THE FIRST COMPLETE BIBLE.
By St. Louis Republic
THE first complete Bible printed in England was issued in 1535, without any publishers' name. It was the work of the celebrated Miles Coverdale, who incorporated, with revisions, Tyndale's books of the New Testament, as well as his Pentateuch and Book of Jonah. It was thus only partially original as far as Coverdale was concerned, the remaining portion being a translation of a translation. No perfect copy of this edition is known to be in existence. A copy sold a few years ago in London for a sum equal to $600 had the title, nineteen leaves, and the map missing. The Coverdale Bible is the one mentioned in these notes heretofore as the "Bug Bible" and the "Treacle Bible," on account of two curious passages found therein. The passage in Jeremiah which we now read as, "Is there no balm in Gilead?" is made by Coverdale to read as, "Is there no more treacle at Gathahad?" The psalm which says, "Thou shalt not be afraid of the terror by night," reads, "Thou shalt not need to bee afrayed for any bugs by night." The ninth psalm, in that portion which should say, "Put them in fear, O Lord," Coverdale makes to say, "Set a schoolmaster over them."