Jacobus van Meteren

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Sir Jacobus van Meteren (1519-1555) was the financier and printer of early English versions of the Bible. He was involved in the printing of an edition of Tyndale's New Testament in 1535 (Herbert #15). The Coverdale Bible of 1535 (Herbert #18) may also have been his work. He may also have printed the Matthew Bible of 1537 (Herbert #34), the combined work of William Tyndale, Myles Coverdale and John Rogers. It is unknown if he was the only financier, printer or publisher of these works, or one of several.

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He was born at Breda, but there has been some debate over the details of his life, which the following quote from the entry "Bible, English" in the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica illustrates:

In 1877 Henry Stevens, in his catalogue of the Caxton Exhibition, pointed out a statement by a certain Simeon Ruytinck in his life of Emanuel van Meteren, appended to the latter's Nederlandische Historic (16,4), that Jacob van Meteren, the father of Emanuel, had manifested great zeal in producing at Antwerp a translation of the Bible into English, and had employed for that purpose a certain learned scholar named Miles Conerdale (sic).
In 1884 further evidence was adduced by W. J. C. Moens, who reprinted an affidavit signed by Emanuel van Meteren, 28 May 1609, to the effect that "he was brought to England anno 1550 . . . by his father, a furtherer of reformed religion, and he that caused the first Bible at his costes to be Englisshed by Mr Myles Coverdal in Andwarp, the w'h his father, with Mr Edward Whytchurch, printed both in Paris and London" (Registers of the Dutch Reformed Church, Austin Friars, 1884, p. xiv).
Apart from the reference to Whytchurch and the place of printing, this statement agrees with that of Simeon Ruytinck, and it is possible that Van Meteren showed his zeal in the matter by undertaking the cost of printing the work as well as that of remunerating the translator. Mr W. Aldis Wright, however, judging from the facts that the name of Whytchurch was introduced, that the places of printing were given as London and Paris, not Antwerp, and lastly that Emanuel van Meteren being born in 1535 could only have derived his knowledge from hearsay, is inclined to think that the Bible in which J. van Meteren was interested "was Matthew's of 1537 or the Great Bible of 1539, and not Coverdale's of 1535".

Since the discovery of Guido Latré in 1997, it is believed that Emanuel van Meteren's affidavit of 1609 refers to the printing of the Coverdale Bible in 1535, when his father employed Myles Coverdale as translator. [1] It could also refer to the Matthew Bible of 1537. The names of Grafton and Whitchurch are associated with the Matthew Bible, not the Coverdale Bible.

Rogers married J. van Meteren's niece, Adriana de Weyden, the same year that the Matthew Bible was published. If J. van Meteren was the printer of the Coverdale Bible, he would readily have been able to provide Rogers with Coverdale's prior work covering those books of the Old Testament which Tyndale had not had time to translate.

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Myles Coverdale 16th-century English preacher and theologian

Myles Coverdale, first name also spelt Miles, was an English ecclesiastical reformer chiefly known as a Bible translator, preacher and, briefly, Bishop of Exeter (1551–1553). In 1535, Coverdale produced the first complete printed translation of the Bible into English. His theological development is a paradigm of the progress of the English Reformation from 1530 to 1552. By the time of his death, he had transitioned into an early Puritan, affiliated to Calvin, yet still advocating the teachings of Augustine.

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Emanuel van Meteren or Meteeren was a Flemish historian and Consul for "the Traders of the Low Countries" in London. He was born in Antwerp, the son of Sir Jacobus van Meteren, Dutch financier and publisher of early English versions of the Bible, and Ottilia Ortellius, of the famous Ortellius family of mapmakers, and nephew of the cartographer Abraham Ortelius.

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This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1537.

Early Modern English Bible translations are those translations of the Bible which were made between about 1500 and 1800, the period of Early Modern English. This was the first major period of Bible translation into the English language including the King James Version and Douai Bibles. The Reformation and Counter-Reformation led to the need for Bibles in the vernacular with competing groups each producing their own versions.

William Seres was an English Protestant printer, starting work in about 1546, and working in partnership with John Day for a few years. Day and Seres specialized in religious works, such as those by Robert Crowley, which were largely related to theological controversies of the time. By 1550, Day and Seres were busy and successful enough to amicably separate their businesses.

Coverdale Bible First complete Modern English translation of the Bible (published 1535)

The Coverdale Bible, compiled by Myles Coverdale and published in 1535, was the first complete Modern English translation of the Bible, and the first complete printed translation into English. The later editions published in 1537 were the first complete Bibles printed in England. The 1537 folio edition carried the royal licence and was therefore the first officially approved Bible translation in English. The Psalter from the Coverdale Bible was included in the Great Bible of 1540 and the Anglican Book of Common Prayer beginning in 1662, and in all editions of the U.S. Episcopal Church Book of Common Prayer until 1979.

Van Meter, Van Metre, Van Mater and Van Matre are American surnames derived from the Dutch surname Van Meteren. Most are descendants of Jan Joosten van Meteren (1626–1704) who in 1662 settled in Wiltwijck, New Netherlands, now Kingston, New York. The surname is a toponym, meaning "from Meteren" in Gelderland, the Netherlands.

Tyndale Bible Early English language Bible, 1526–1536

The Tyndale Bible generally refers to the body of biblical translations by William Tyndale into Early Modern English, made c. 1522–1536. Tyndale's Bible is credited with being the first Bible translation in the English language to work directly from Hebrew and Greek texts. Furthermore, it was the first English biblical translation that was mass-produced as a result of new advances in the art of printing.

Events from the 1530s in England.

George Joye was a 16th-century Bible translator who produced the first printed translation of several books of the Old Testament into English (1530–1534), as well as the first English Primer (1529).

Merten de Keyser was a 16th-century French printer and publisher working mainly in Antwerp, who printed the first complete French and the first complete English Bible translations as well as a number of works by English Protestant authors.

Protestant Bible Christian Bible whose translation or revision was produced by Protestants

A Protestant Bible is a Christian Bible whose translation or revision was produced by Protestants. Such Bibles comprise 39 books of the Old Testament and 27 books of the New Testament for a total of 66 books. Some Protestants use Bibles which also include 14 additional books in a section known as the Apocrypha bringing the total to 80 books. This is often contrasted with the 73 books of the Catholic Bible, which includes seven deuterocanonical books as a part of the Old Testament. The division between protocanonical and deuterocanonical books is not accepted by all Protestants who simply view books as being canonical or not and therefore classify books found in the deuterocanon, along with other books, as part of the Apocrypha.

References

Notes

  1. Guido Latre, The 1535 Coverdale Bible and its Antwerp Origins,, in The Bible as Book: The Reformation, ed. by O'Sullivan, Orlaith (The British Library & Oak Knoll Press in association with The Scriptorium: Center for Christian Antiquities London & New Castle, Delaware 2000), pp. 89–102. ISBN   9781584560258 Archived 28 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine ISBN   1-58456-025-8