It was all yellow

The Library’s copy of William Tyndale’s New Testament takes centre stage on the website this week. Apart from being the first English translation to be taken directly from the Greek and Hebrew, it is also the first printed English edition of the Bible, and as if that wasn’t enough, it is yellow. Whether it was printed on yellow paper, or whether the paper was treated afterwards, we don’t know, neither do we know why. There are a few instances of other yellow sixteenth-century Bibles, but nobody seems certain as to why this might be, so if you know anything about yellow Bibles, do get in touch!