THE BIBLE IN WELSH.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIX, Issue 265, 9 October 1939, Page 2

THE BIBLE IN WELSH.

FIRST EDITIONS SOLD. A fine copy of the first edition of the complete Book in AA’elsh, transI lated and edited by AVilliam Alorgan, “a son of the copyhold tenant upon the great estate of Gwydir,” brought £145 at Sotheby’s, London. The printing of this book began at London towards the end of 1587, and went on for a year, during which Alorgan was enabled to exercise a close supervision over the work through the hospitality of Gabriel Goodman, Dean of AVestminster. It appeared in 1588, after the defeat of the Armada, and before November 20, the date inscribed in the copy presented by Alorgan to the AVestminster Abbey Library. The Latin dedication to Queen Elizabeth tells something of the history of the translation, and states the case for it against those advisers of the Crown who disapproved of any official countenance being given to the AA’elsh language. This Bible came from the library of Sir Evan Davies Jones, as did tho first edition of the New Testament in AA’elsh, 1567, translated mainly by AVilliam Salesbury, which sold for £135.