Principal English versions
Wycliff's or Wycliffe's Bible
The name given to two trans of the Vulgate. The earlier one completed c1384 is the first
complete English Bible. The second and improved version was probably written between
1395 and 1397 is considered to owe much to John Purvey, a Lollard scholar. as a whole it
remained unprinted until Forshall & Madden issued a monumental edition in 1850

Tyndale's Bible
Consists of the New Testament printed at Cologne in 1525 (revisions 1534 & 1535);
the Pentateuch (printed at Marburg in 1530); the Book of Jonah (1531);
Epistles of the Old Testament (after the Use of Salisbury) (1534); and a MS trans of the Old
Testament to the end of Chronicles. Based primarily on Greek originals

Coverdale's Bible (1535)
First printed edition of a complete English Bible trans out of German & Latyn by
Miles Coverdale (1488-1568). The 1st ed was probably printed in Zurich, the second by
James Nicolson at Southwark in 1537

Matthew's Bible (1537)
Printed in Antwerp as the trans of Thomas Matthew, most probably an alias of
John Rogers, and assistant of Tyndale. Made under the king's licence it was soon
superceded by the Great Bible

Taverner's Bible (1539)
A revision of Matthew's Bible by Richard Taverner. It's notable for its idomatic English

Cromwell's Bible (1539)
The Great Bible of 1539. Published by Grafton & Whitchurch. The title page includes
a portrait of Thomas Cromwell, under whose direction the Bible was commissioned.
It went through seven editions and was made compulsory for all parish churches to possess a copy

Cranmer's Bible (1540)
Name given to the 1540 edition of The Great Bible It and later issues contained a prologue
by Cranmer and on the woodcut title page by Holbein, Henry VIII is shown seated
handing copies to Cranmer and Cromwell.
Its Psalter is still incorporated in the Book of Common Prayer

The Geneva Bible (1560)
Undertaken by English exiles in Geneva. Largely the work of William Whittingham,
assisted by Anthony Gilby & Thomas Sampson.
The first English Bible printed in roman type instead of black letter (ie. Gothic type)

The Bishop's Bible (1568)
A revision of The Great Bible to counter the growing popularity of the Geneva Bible.
It reached its 18th edition in 1602 and formed the basis of the Authorised Version.

The Douai Bible (1582 New Testament) (1609 Old Testament)
Trans of the Vulgate by English Roman Catholics. New Testament published at the English
College at Rheims and the Old Testament at Douai

First Authorized Version (1611) - King James Bible
A by-product of the Hampton Court Conference (1604). Begun in 1607 by 47 scholars at the
Command of James I

The Revised Version (1881 New Testament) (1885 Old Testament)
The revision of the Authorized version resulted from a resolution passed by Houses of
Convocation in 1870

American Standard Version (1901)
A modification of the Revised Version of 1881

Principal English versions
The New Testament in Modern Speech (1903)
New trans from the Greek by R F Weymouth

Moffatt's Translation (1913 New Testament) (1924 Old Testament)
A revised edition of the Bible published in a complete edition in 1935

The Knox version (1945)
A new Roman Catholic trans of the Vulgate by Monsignor R A KNox (1888-1957).
New Testament in 1945 and the Old Testament (for private use only) in 1949

The Revised Standard Version (1946-1952)
The work of American scholars

The New Testament in Modern English (1958)
Trans by J B Phillips

The Good News Bible (1960 Old Testament) (1976 Complete Bible)
An illustrated version produced by the American Bible Society. Designed to be understood
by those whose first language was not English

The New English Bible (1961) (1970 Complete Edition)
A trans into contemporary English first proposed by the Church of scoptland and directed by
a joint committee of the Protestant churches of Great Britain & Ireland. the 1989 edition
was revised to eliminate sexist words.

The Jerusalem Bible (1966)
A New trans of the Bible prepared from ancient originals by Roman Catholic scholars.
It derives its notes and introduction from the French "La Bible de Jerusalem" produced
under the editorship of Pere Roland de Vaux in 1956

The Revised Standard Version Common Bible (1973)
Based on both the Protestant & Roman Catholic (1966) editions of the Revised Standard Version
and intended for interdenominational use

The New International Version (1978 New York Bible Society, US) (1979 UK)
A New trans, the work of an Anglo-American team seeking to present a
modernised version in good English

The New Revised Standard Version (1990)
The fruit of 15 years' work by a team of Christian and Jewish scholars.
It uses gender inclusive language

Specially Named Editions of the Bible
The Mazarin Bible (1456)
The first known book to be printed from movable type, probably by Fust & Schoffer
at Mainz, who took over most of Gutenberg's presses in 1455. This copy owes its name to the copy
discovered in the Mazarin Library in Paris in 1760. To bibliographers it is usually known as the
Forty-Two Line Bible (for its 42 lines to the column)

The Thirty-Six Line Bible (c1460)
Latin Bible of 36 lines to the column, probably printed by A Pfister
at Bamberg. Also known as the Bamberg or Pfister's Bible, and sometimes Schelhorn's, as it was
first described by the German bibliographer J G Schelhorn in 1760

The Complutensian Polyglot (1514-1517)
Published at Alcala (formerly Complutum) near Madrid

The September Bible (1522)
Luther's German trans of the New Testament published anonymously
at Wittenberg

The Zurich Bible (1530)
German version composed of Luther's translation of the New Testament
and portions of the Old

The Bug Bible (1535)
Coverdale's Bible is so called because Psalm 91:5 is trans ' Thou shalt not nede
to be afrayed for eny bugges by night'

The Ferrara Bible (1553)
First Spanish edition of the Old Testament for use of Spanish Jews

The Breeches Bible (1560)
Popular name of the Geneva Bible because in it Genesis 3:7 was rendered '
and they sowed figge-tree leaves together and made themselves breeches'

The Leopolita Bible (1561)
Polish trans of the Vulgate by John of Lemberg (Jan Nicz of Lwow) published
at Cracow. So called from the Latin name, Leopolis, of his birthplace

The Placemakers' Bible (1562)
2nd ed of the Geneva Bible in which Matthew 5:9 reads ' Blessed are the placemakers'
(for peacemakers). Also been called the Whig Bible

The Treacle Bible (1568)
Popular name of The Bishop's Bible because Jeremiah 8:22 reads 'is there
no tryacle in Gilead, is there no phisition there ?'

The Bear Bible (1569)
Spanish Protestant version printed at Basle. So called because the woodcut
device on the title page is a bear

The Leda Bible (1572)
Third Edition of the Bishop's Bible and so called because of the decoration of the
initial at the Epistle to the Hebrews, which is a startling and incongruous woodcut of Jupiter
visiting Leda in the guise of a swan

The Kralitz Bible (1579-93)
Version, also the Brother's Bible, published by United Brethren of Moravia at Kralitz

The Incunabula Bible (1594)
Date on title page reads 1495 instead of 1594

The Ostrog Bible (1581)
First complete Slavonic edition printed at Ostrog, Volhynia in Russia

Wuyck's Bible (1599)
Authorized Polish trans by the Jesuit, Jacub Wuyck (or Wujek), Printed at Cracow

Bedell's Bible (1601 New Testament)
Irish trans carried out under direction of Bishop William Bedell (1571-1642)

The Rosin Bible (1609)
The Douai Bible is so called bcause in Jeremiah 8:22 it reads 'Is there noe rosin in Galaad ?'

The He Bible (1611)
First of the two editions of the Authorized version. In Ruth 3:15 it reads
'and he went into the city' (all over versions have she)

The Judas Bible (1611)
Matthew 26:36 reads 'Judas' instead of Jesus

Wicked Bible (1631)
In Exodus 20:14 it reads 'Thou shalt commit adultery'. Printed by Barker & Lucas,
the King's printers at Blackfriars. The £300 fine ruined the printer. Also called the Adulterous Bible

The Forgotten Sins Bible (1638)
In Luke 7:47 it reads 'Her sins which are many, are forgotten' (instead of forgiven)

The More Sea Bible (1641)
Revelation 21:1 reads 'and there was more sea' (instead of no more sea)

Sacy's Bible
A French trans by the Janse-Nist, Louis Isaac le Maistre de Sacy, Director of Port Royal (1650-79).
He began his work when imprisoned in the Bastille

The Bad Bible (1653)
Contains a deliberate perversion of Acts 6:6 whereby the ordination of deacons was
ascribed to the disciples and not to the apostles

The Unrighteous Bible (1653)
A Cambridge printing that contains 'Know ye not that the unrighteous shall
inherit the Kingdom of God ?' in stead of shall not inherit. Someimes known as the Wicked Bible

The Indian Bible (1663)
First complete Bible printed in America. Trans into the dialect of indians in Massachusetts
by Rev John Eliot. Published by Samuel Green & Marmaduke Johnson

The Printer's Bible (1702)
in which David, in Psalm 119:161 complains that 'printers have persecuted me without
a cause' (instead of princes)

The Sin On Bible (1716)
First version printed in Ireland was dated 1716. John 5:14 reads 'sin on more'
(instead of no more). 8000 copies had been printed and bound before the mistake was discovered

The Vinegar Bible (1717)
Oxford printing in which part of the chapter heading to Luke 20 reads 'The
Parable of the vinegar' (for vineyard)
(1716 & 1717 J Baskett, London. Folio) - 2 vols

The Sting Bible (1746)
Mark 7:35 reads 'the sting of his tongue' (instead of string)

The Denial Bible (1792)
Printed at Oxford. Luke 22:34 the name Philip is substituted for Peter,
as the apostle who would deny Jesus

The Murderers' Bible (1801)
Jude 16 reads 'These are murderers' (for Murmurers)

The Lions Bible (1804)
Contained so many printers errors, such as 'The murderer shall surely be put
together' (instead of to death) (Numbers 25:18). 'But thy son that shall come forth out of thy lions'
(instead of loins) (1 Kings 8:19)

The To remain Bible (1805)
Printed in Cambridge, Galatians 4:29 reads 'persecuted him that was born
after the spirit to remain, even so it is now'. The words 'to remain' were added in error by the printer

The Discharge Bible (1806)
Contains discharge for charge in 1 Timothy 5:21 'I discharge thee before
God .. that thou observe these things'

The Standing Fishes Bible (1806)
In Ezekiel 47:10 it reads 'And it shall come to pass that fishes
shall stand upon it' (instead of fishers)

The Idle Bible (1809)
The 'idol shepherd' in Zechariah 11:17 reads 'the idle shepherd'

The Ears to Ear Bible (1810)
In Matthew 13:43 it reads ' Who hath ears to ear, let him hear'

The Wife Hater Bible (1810)
In Luke 14:26 it reads 'If any man come to me, and hate not his father and
mother .. yea, and his own wife also' (instead of life)

The Large Family Bible Bible (1820)
Oxford edition has 'cease' for cause in Isaiah 66:9

The Camel's Bible (1823)
in which Genesis 24:61 reads 'And Rebekah arose and her camels (instead of damsels)'

The Proof Bible (1892)
Revised version of the first impression of Luther's German Bible

The Affinity Bible (1923)
Contains a table of affinity with the error 'A man may not marry his grandmother's wife'

The Fool Bible
Edition in Charles I's reign in which Psalms 14:1 reads 'The fool hath said in his heart there is
a God' (instead of no God). The printers were fined £3000 and all copies were suppressed

The Goose Bible
Editions of the Geneva Bible printed at Dort, where the press had a goose for its device

OTHER VERSIONS
The Holy Bible : The Authorized or King James Version of 1611 (1963 Nonesuch Press) - 3 vols
Historical Catalogue of Printed Editions of the English Bible 1525-1961
(1968 British & Foreign Bible Society, London)

READING
J R Dore : Old Bibles - An Account of the Various Versions of the English Bible
(1876 B M Pickering)
A W Pollard : Records of the English Bible (1911 Oxford)
C C Butterworth : The Literary Lineage of the King James Bible 1340-1611 (1941 Philadelphia)
E Rumball-Petre : Rare Bibles (1954 Duschenes) - 600
Thomas L Thompson : The Bible in History (2000 Pimlico £12.50)
Alister McGrath : In the Beginning - The Story of the King James Bible and How it Changed
a Nation, a Language and a Culture (2001 Hodder & Stoughton £14.99)