October 4th - First English-Language Bible

On this day, in 1537, the first english-language Bible went into print. It was called Matthew's Bible, named after Matthew Bible. It was the combined work of three translators working in five languages, so it is guaranteed to be accurate.

For their heroic effort, two of the authors were burnt at the stake.  This was also known as being "tested by fire". They both failed.

No one knows, or cares, who printed Matthew's Bible. Perhaps it was God. He does a first-rate job at a low, low price. Of course he had a vested interest in this job. I asked him to print up one thousand flyers for my band's gig and he took forever.

To add insult to injury, or more accurately, to add insult to a firey death, Matthew's Bible was not made the first official translation of the Bible. This honour was given to the Great Bible, which was OK at best. It was given the title of "Great" because of its large size.

The Great Bible was based on Matthew's Bible. In fact, it was almost identical. The only difference is that the original author's names were removed and someone else's name was put in their place.

The Great Bible had a first run of 2,500, just to see how it goes. It did very well due to the marketing masterstroke of a Royal decree that ordered all the Churches to buy it.