The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1911-06-17
EDITIONS OF THE SACRED
SCRIPTURE IN THE
VERNACULAR.
A Timely and Scholarly Article by
Very Rev. William Canon Barry,
Of England, in the Liverpool
Times.

Lying before me is a page in fac
simile of the first book ever printed
from movable types. The book itself
bears no date; but it was created, as
we may truly say, by Gutenberg at
Mayence in Germany, and sent out
before the year 1855. What, then, was
the first printed book? It is known
as the "forty-two line or the Mazarin,
Bible; and it is nothing else than the
Latin Vulgate, the official text of Holy
Scripture approved by the Roman
Church, and used by Catholics for at
least nine hundred years previous to
it's appearance as the beginning of
printed literature.
All educated persons in the fifteenth
century read Latin as matter of
course. A printed Latin Bible was,
therefore, the most public and ready
to hand of all forms in which the
Sacred Scriptures could be given. So
soon as movable types were invented,
the Church fastened to put within
reach of her children the treasures of
Holy Writ in this new shape.
The first volume printed with date
is the Latin Book of Psalms, at May
ence, 1457. The first whole Bible dated
comes from the same city, 1862. Vene-
tian presses began their work on
Scriptures in 1475, and sent out twen-
ty-two complete editions of the Vul-
gate in not many years. Halt a dozen
large, or folio, editions were published
before single Latin classic had been
committed to the printers hands. By
the year 1900 no fewer than ninety
eight distinct and full editions of the
Churchs Bible in it's Latin text had
come forth, besides twelve others
which contained the Glossa Ordinaria,
or the Postils of Lyranus.'
Hebrew and Greek Originals.
But what of translations which those
might read to whom Latin was either
an unknown or a difficult tongue?
will deal with them in moment.
First, however, take note that Church
authorities welcomed or even them.
selves brought out editions of Holy
Writ in the original Hebrew and
Greek, with which learned men might
compare the Latin. Thus from 1477
onwards the whole Hebrew text was
printed by Italian Jews; and in 1917
the Rabbinic Bible, issued in four vol
umes at Venice, was dedicated by its
editor, Felix Pratensis, to Pope Leo K
The famous Greek text, called the Sep
tuagint, was printed in his remark
able Polyglot by Cardinal Ximenes in
1914; but the first published Greek
New Testament is due to Erasmus, a
priest, and appeared in 1917. Catholic
ecclesiastics were evidently not afraid
of scholarship as regards the inspired
volumes, on which they spent theil
zeal, their resources, and their labor
First Printed German Texts.
Now let us look at what was done
for the people at large. The name
which casts a shadow upon this en-
quiry, as we all know, is that O.
Luther. Luther was born in 1883, ant
died in 1916. Take, then, the Father
land, to which, as the story once went
this man first gave knowledge of tht
divine volume. Well, we possess tht
original German Bible printed in 1866
seventeen years before the miner!
son of Eisenach saw the light. Twen
ty editions of the whole Scriptures fol
lowed down to 1520-the year in which
Luther was condemned by Leo X
these in Upper Germany; and four be
sides in Lower Germany. No fewe
than ninety Plenaria containing th
Sunday Epistles and Gospels, witt
fourteen editions of the Psalms in th
vernacular, must be added. Luther
New Testament appeared in 1922, hi
entire Bible not until 1884. From
collation. of his work with earlier Ger
man renderings it is certain that h
made use of them, and so was not tn
pioneer whom Protestants take him t
be. By 1884, in fact, as many as thirt
editions of the whole scriptures, or Q
portions of them, were issued b
Catholics in Luther's native tongue
Since then, the German Bible of Die
tenberger, and more recently that {
Allioli, have kept the faithful acquail
ted with Holy Writ under orthodox al
probation. These facts and date
speak for themselves Luther was b
no means first in the field of transl;
tors. And the very forms of thes
early versions, largely in miniatur
and pocket editions, indicate no
widespread was their use
other Bibles in the vernacuIar.
Outside Germany the same work /
translation, which had begun befol
printing was invented, went on apac
At Delft the Old Testament in Dutc
came out in 1477; the French Ne
Testament is dated Lyons, also of tn;
year. The Spanish Scriptures, tran
lated about 1405 by Boniface, broth,