[Tyndale, William]--Erasmus, Desiderius.

manuscript in English, an unrecorded manuscript of the English translation of one of Erasmus's most popular works, presumably produced for presentation, making possible the firm attribution of this translation to William Tyndale, in an attractive and well-formed formal secretary hand, marginalia in a smaller hand and different ink, scored for line guides, later pencil foliation, 145 leaves, large 4to, (285 x 195mm, watermark of the French royal arms, similar to Briquet 1827 and 1828 [both 1520s]) , with a colophon ("translated oute of the latten into englisshe in the yere of our lord god m^lvcxxiii [i.e. 1523]"), in modern red morocco gilt with Northumberland armorial stamp, small fragment of earlier spine retained on front free endpapers

First recorded in the Northumberland collection in 1872.

E.J. Devereux, 'Some Lost Translations of Erasmus', The Library, 5th Series, 17 (1962), 255-59; David Daniell, William Tyndale: A Biography (New Haven, 1994)

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The only known contemporary manuscript of a literary work by the reformer and martyr William Tyndale, a central figure of the English Reformation and to the development of the English language and its literature: "without Tyndale, no Shakespeare". It has long been known that Tyndale translated Erasmus's Enchiridion, but until now it has been unclear whether this translation was lost or had been the basis of the translation of 1533, printed by Wynken de Worde for John Byddell. The appearance of this manuscript shows that Byddell had indeed used Tyndale's existing translation.

In 1522 Tyndale, having completed his university education, returned to his native Gloucestershire to work as a tutor for a local landowner with connections at court, Sir John Walsh of Little Sodbury Manor. In his hagiography of Tyndale, John Foxe wrote that Tyndale, already an advocate of Erasmus and Luther, got involved in Scriptural disputes with prelates and learned men who visited the Walshes, until eventually the lady of the manor challenged him: why she should believe this young man against his more established elders? Foxe describes Tyndale's response:

"...But then he did translate into English a book called as I remember Enchiridion militis Christiani. The which being translated, delivered to his master and Lady. And after they had read that book, those great prelates were no more so often called to the house..." (Quoted in Daniell, p.63)

Enchiridion Militis Christiani, or Handbook of a Christian Knight as it is usually known in English (Tyndale's "sowdear" is an obsolete variant of "soldier"), was a perfect riposte to self-satisfied prelates. It was a manual of advice to the lay Christian, an appeal to act in accordance with faith rather than simply to follow a set of rituals. Erasmus presents the "Christian Knight" with two powerful weapons: prayer and knowledge - especially knowledge of scripture. It was a powerful and hugely successful work. More than 50 Latin editions were printed in Erasmus's lifetime, and the English translation alone was to pass through 11 editions in the sixteenth century.

Not long after completing the translation, probably in the spring of 1523, Tyndale left the Walshes for London, taking a copy of his translation with him. The text passed into the hands of his first significant patron and supporter in London, the merchant Humphrey Monmouth. This is known because in 1528 Monmouth was arrested for possession of heretical books and petitioned the King's Council. He wrote that Tyndale "left me an English book, called Enchiridion. The which book the Abbess of Dennye desired it of me, and I sent it to her ... Another book I had of the same copy: a friar of Greenwich desired it of me, and I gave it him. I think my Lord of Rochester [i.e. John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester] hath it." Monmouth went on to say that after he had heard the Bishop of London preach against Tyndale he burnt everything that remained in his possession of Tyndale's (see Daniell, p.74).

The current manuscript clearly states that the translation was completed in 1523, and the paper and handwriting of the current manuscript both suggest that it was produced in the 1520s. Given that the date of translation matches exactly with Tyndale's biography, and that it is also known that Tyndale's manuscript had some circulation in the early 1520s (which evidently ceased once Tyndale became known as the controversial translator of the Bible), there can be little doubt that this manuscript is a copy of Tyndale's translation, even though his name does not appear in the manuscript itself. This in turn shows that a copy of Tyndale's existing translation was used by de Worde and Byddell for their printed edition of 1533. Byddell published a number of reformist texts in around 1533, with the discreet support of Thomas Cromwell, and including a translation of Luther's De Libertate Christiana which may perhaps also have come from one of Monmouth's manuscripts.

Tyndale was principally interested in using the medium of print to disseminate his message, and manuscripts of his later works do not survive. He is known to have presented his own translation (now lost) of an Oration by Isocrates to Sir Henry Guildford when he petitioned him for a job in 1523, but his later life took Tyndale far from the aristocratic environment in which manuscript circulation flourished, whilst his itinerant and dangerous life was hardly conducive to the survival of working papers. We have no record of any Tyndale manuscript appearing at auction.