The exposycion of Daniel the prophete by Geo. Joye, London 1550

The exposicio[n] of Daniell the prophete, gathered out of Philip Melanchton, Iho[n] Ecolampadius, Chonrade Pellicane, and oute of Ihon Draconite [et] c. By George Ioye. A prophecie diligentlye to bee noted of al emperoures and kinges, in these last daies. Printed in London, by Thomas Raynalde, 1550. 

The second edition, but the first printed in England, preceded only by the 1545 edition printed in Antwerp (with a fictitious Geneva imprint).

Octavo, 14 cm x 9.5 cm. Bound in early 19th-century full light-brown calf: covers paneled with concentric blind-tooled and ruled borders and with four small gilt-tooled fleuron corner-pieces; spine (neatly rebacked retaining original back-strip) blind-tooled, titled in gilt in second compartment and gilt-dated at bottom. Marbled endpapers; all edges gilt. A silk ribbon bookmark attached to binding.

[488] pages (unnumbered).  Signatures: A-Z8 AA-GG8 HH4. Collates as per ESTC 14824

Title-page within a decorative woodcut border; two decorative woodcut initials, and a woodcut tail-piece on C4v with flowers and grotesques. Text printed in Black Letter in single column (30 lines per page, plus a running headline), with marginal notes.  Includes a dedication to Maurice (1521-1553), Duke and later Elector of Saxony by Philip Melanchthon (translated by George Joye and thus dated January 1545).

Colophon on verso of the final leaf (HH4v) states: “M.D.L. / Imprinted at London : In Paules / Church yearde, at the signe of / the Starre, By Thomas / Raynalde.”

Very Good antiquarian condition. Complete. Binding slightly rubbed, and with minor discolorations; very neatly repacked retaining the original back-strip (binding very well preserved, solid and tight, joints and hinges intact, boards securely attached). Internally with occasional light soiling, and a brown stain affecting a few leaves at the end of the volume, beginning at DD5 and mostly confined to margins, but spreading into the printed area in the final three quires, however, without any loss of legibility (all text readable). Several leaves with minor marginal worming (but without any loss of text). Leaf CC3 with a paper-flaw causing loss of (blank) piece of paper at the bottom fore-corner (without any loss of text). In all, a pleasing, well-margined and remarkably well-preserved example of this rare and important specimen of pre-Elizabethan English typography.

An early and exceedingly rare English edition, in which the exegetical writings by Melanchthon and other leading continental Reformers on the Book of Daniel have been reworked into English by George Joye (c.1495 – 1553). Joye was a noted 16th-century English protestant author and, (assistant to Tyndale) Bible translator, who produced the first printed translation of several books of the Old Testament into English (1530 – 1534), as well as the first English Primer (1529). Joye’s treatment of Daniel, while largely based on Melanchthon’s In Danielem prophetam commentarius, also strongly reflects the bitter religious conflicts of late Henrician England.

STC 14825; Ames/Herbert, Typographical Antiquities, III, no.1759; Lowndes, p.1237; Maittaire, Annales Typogr., III, p.586; Graesse, III, p.491-2.

Drawing on Daniel 11:37 and applying it to Henry VIII (KJV) “Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all”, Joye makes a connection between Henry VIII’s marital difficulties and his prohibition of clerical marriage. In 1527 Joye was denounced as a heretic to John Longland, bishop of Lincoln, chancellor of Oxford and confessor to King Henry VIII, and was summoned before Cardinal Wolsey at Westminster together with Thomas Bilney and Thomas Arthur. He soon realized that it was safer for him to flee to the Continent.

In 1534 Joye undertook the proof-reading of Tyndale’s New Testament edition. Joye, however, not only corrected the typographical errors, but also changed the term “resurreccion” as found in Tyndale’s text by expressions such as “the lyfe after this” in some twenty occurrences of the word. Joye believed, as he later explained, that the original term in the Bible in those places did not refer to the bodily resurrection but to the intermediate state of the soul. At the same time, Joye retained Tyndale’s original formulation at the some 150 other occurrences of the word, where he agreed with Tyndale that the term did refer to the bodily resurrection. Tyndale reacted by bringing out his own revised version of his New Testament in November 1534, in which he inserted a second foreword attacking Joye and his editorial work. Tyndale accused Joye of promoting the heresy of the denial of the bodily resurrection and causing divisions among Protestants. After an inconclusive attempt to reconcile the parties, in February 1535 Joye published an apology to refute Tyndale’s accusations.