Bible gets a title after 470 years

(Photograph) - Title deeds: a complete copy of William Tyndale's 1526 English translation of the New Testament, with a previously undiscovered title page (see above), has been found in the Bible collection of the Bibelsammlung at the Wurttembergische Landesbibliothek in Stuttgart, Germany.

The title page reads: "The newe Testament as it was written and caused to be written by them which herde yt. To whom also oure saveoure Christ Jesus commaunded that they shulde preache it unto al creatures."

The only other complete copy of Tyndale's 1526 translation lacks a title page and is owned by the British Library. Mervyn Jannetta, head of English Antiquarian collections at the British Library, said: "The Bible in English has exercised such pervasive influence over the religious and cultural life of the English-speaking world that it is impossible to overstate the importance of Tyndale's work."

The discovery confirms that Tyndale published his first edition anonymously. His determination to translate the Bible antagonised the Church and he was burnt at the stake in Antwerp in 1536.