Evening star., 1935-10-06
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never could De reprOOuCeo' Seven
centuries have failed to dim the colors
in the least. Artists have been unable
to determine Just what mixtures were
used or Just what base was placed on
the parchment before the palnter
started his work. It is known tnat
the white of an egg was one OF the
important ingredients. The manu-
script is in Latin, each letter con-
structed with infinite perfectlon OF
detail. A monk doubtless would work
for months, tirelessly and lovingly
over a single page. The work dates
from the age of Giotto. one OF the
most celebrated Of religious painters.
THERE are 746 parchment leaves in
l. each volume. Each book, with its
heavy gold plate, is about all man
can lift handily. The manuscript was
purchased by the Library OF Congress
from the effects of an English COL
lector in 1873. Its history, previous
to the time it became his property, IS
unknown.
There was a black letter German
Bible, rather copiously illustrated with
wood cuts, published in 1888. When
one of the few copies left in the
world was obtained recently by the
Library of Congress, Mr.. Parma, GUS
todian of rare books. found that two
pages, in the Book of Kings. had
been pasted together with sealing wax.
There was something in those pages
which some medieval bishop had de-
cided that his clergy should not see.
Mr.. Parmas curiosity got the better
of him. He cut through the sealing
vax-and roared with laughter. The
text was the somewhat delicate one
which relates how King David watched
from his window the maid Bathsheba
taking a bath The pious publisher
had provided a.wood cut illustrating
the incident. 1t showed Bathsheba
at her bath. The bishop had felt
that such a picture was a terrible
hazard in the straight and narrow
path.
Yet, in this picture, the fair Bath
sheba merely sits in chair with her
skirt drawn up two-thirds of the way
to her knees. Beside her stands her
maid with a pitcher of water. The
maid is pouring the water on Bath
shebas feet. The wicked David, all
unbeknown to the denure maiden, is
watching.
NEXT in value only to the gold
leaf manuscript of the Bible in
the Library of Congress collection is
a manuscript, pocket Bible" OF the
thirteenth century. The entire scrip
lures are compressed into size con-
venient for carrying in the pocket.
The pages are made of the skin OF
unborn kids, for the sake of lightness.
The writing was done with reed styluses
by near-sighted monks who worked
with their eyes about an inch away
from the page, In the same collection
is the first printing of the Pentateuch
in Hebrew-also on kid skin.
One of the great rarities Is
psalter-an edition of the Book Of
Psalms printed in Geneva In 1915.
The compiler was one Augustinus
Justinianus, friend and admirer of
Columbus. He believed that the
prophecy of the 10th Psalm had
been fulfilled by his friend. Conse-
quently he inserted marginal note,
which continues for five pages. 1t
constituted the first life of the dis
coverer of the New World ever written.
The Library of Congress has one Of
the two or three copies extant.
The National Library has no copy
of the Coyerdale Bible. This con-
stitutes the greatest gap in the COL
1ection-a gap which can be filed
only by a gift. 1t has. however, the
next best-the second English trans
lation published in 1889, just four
years after Coverdale completed his
work. This Is THE Most Sacred
Bible, by Richard Tavener." Tavener
was London lawyer and an advocate
of quite different theological princi-
pies from those of Coverdale. He
pretended to have made an entirely
new translation, but the internal evil
dence is strong that all he did was
to steal Coverdale's work, with changes
of phraseology now and then to
comply with the theology of himself
and his friends.
On the shelves is one of the very
rare copies of the first scriptural work
ever printed in England-William
Cations translation of the Golden
Legend, a compilation of Bible stories,
issued in 1887. There is also first
edition Of the Geneva Bible of John
Calvin, a translation Of which was
used by English Protestants up to the
time of the King James version. This
Is known as the "breetches Bible" !"
The pious Calvinists could not endure
the thought of a naked Adam, re-
gardless of Genesis. He made himself
a pair of "breeches' out of the fig
leaf and presumably went forth into
the world dressed like gentleman
when he was expelled from Eden.
There is also the first edition of the
King James Bible, known as the He"
Bible. This is due to an error in
which Ruth was referred to as che"
The second earliest of the English
editions at the library is the so-called
Crammer's Bible, printed in London
by Edward Whitechurch in 1541.
NEXT in order is the Mathew Bible,
issued in 1549. The translation
Is by Thomas Mathew, believed to be
the fictitious name of one John Rog-
ers, who based his work on the earlier
translations of William Tyndale and
Miles Coverdale, the anniversary Of
whose work is being observed this
month. It is known as the "bug"
Bible, due to the odd phraseology Of
q verse of the 91st Psalm. This reads:
"Thou shalt not be afraid of the
bugges by night nor of the arrows
that fly in the day" The word
"buge" in Middle English meant
'ghost," and at that time had not
been generally applied to insects.
There are two copies of the Mathew
Bible at the Library. One is mutt
lated. From it is torn out probably
the choicest bit Of clerical humor in
the English tongue, The other copy