Rare books 13: Translating the Bible

The Geneva Bible, printed by Robert Barker (London, 1611) Notes: 1610 on the title page, but in fact published in the year of first release of the King James Version, this is the English translation that went on being read by many in the realm, including Shakespeare and Donne. The handwritten note reminds us that this is the Breeches Bible (“They sewed figge leaves together, and made themselves breeches.” Genesis 3:7), which is not an especially significant thing about this version, being the main Protestant Bible in English and highly influential. No one makes a fuss about ‘aprons’, the KJV word for the Hebrew. French Huguenot Bible (Basel, 1772) Notes: This revision by David Martin of Utrecht (1639-1721) of the Geneva Bible, further revised by Pierre Roques of Basel (1685-1748), comes 250 years after the outbreak of the Reformation. How much is Geneva, how much Martin, or Roques? If your mantra is sola scriptura, this is no idle question. Nothing has changed when an argument of life and death hangs on a word in translation. French translation seems to have gone differently to English. Both Protestant and Catholic translations in France vied for attention, unlike England where the KJV assumed general authority and acceptance for over four centuries. While Geneva and Authorised did vie for attention initially, it was not until the 20^th century that the Anglicans and others produced more Martins and Roques than was thought possible, or even permissible. This copy has a detached cover and title page, so it was presumably someone’s favourite reading. ‘Who translated the Bible? or, biblical memoranda concerning the Holy Scriptures, showing the part taken by the Catholic Church in their translation and dissemination’, by Edward Swarbreck Hall (Hobart Town, 1875) Notes: At 300 pages, it’s hard to know how the entry for Hall in the ‘Australian Dictionary of Biography’ could call this a pamphlet. Martin and Roques don’t appear in Hall’s book, which is a staunch defence of Catholic history and tradition against all-comers. His work is one of remarkable if testy erudition, but it was for him a sideline interest. He was a general practitioner and surgeon washed up in Tasmania, where he continued to fight good fights on all fronts, including reform of the convict female factories, installation of what seems to be about the first telephone in Hobart, and success in the implementation of compulsory vaccination. No work, not even tinkering, was required on the downloaded record, which is Ferguson No. 10174b.