The Byble in Englysh, that it to saye the content of all the holy scrypture. Leaf hhhii, Apocrypha Fo. lviii - the end of 'The story of Susanna and the Elders' and the beginning of 'The story of Bel and the Dragon' - text in double columns

      SINGLE LEAF. - BIBLIA ANGLICA. with 62 lines to a full column, printed on both side. With a large, 7 lines, woodcut initial 'D'. London, Edward Whitchurch, May 1541. 35,7 x 26 cm. A leaf from the fifth Great Bible. The printer Edward Whitchurch (d.1561) became an adherent of the Reformed doctrines and in 1537 he associated himself with Richard Grafton to circulate Thomas Matthew's Bible (printed at Antwerp). In 1538 he and Grafton gave financial assistance to M. Coverdale in printing his New Testament at Paris and in 1539 they published the Great Bible in London. (The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000). Nothing within the Great Bible itself tells of its royal authorization. Official statement of this authorization came only in the second edition of 1540, which was also the first to include the preface and authorization signed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556), declaring it 'the Byble apoynted to the use of churches.' The large bold format, set in broad double-columns of 62 lines with large capitals and occasional woodcut illustrations, not only reflects the Great Bible's function as a book for public reading, but also expresses the authority that the edition was granted by Henry VIII, Cromwell, and ultimately Cranmer. Although the freedom to read from the English Bible was briefly revoked at the end of King Henry's reign, it was restored under King Edward VI.