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SKU: 1549-MAT-DEUT5-TENCOMMANDMENTS
Original leaf from the exceedingly rare 1549 Matthew\'s Bible (STC 2077), edited by Edmund Becke and printed in London for John Day and William Seres.
This handsome folio leaf contains portions of Deuteronomy chapters 5 and 6, including two of the most celebrated passages in all of Scripture:
- The Ten Commandments (\"Thou shalt not steale,\" \"Thou shalt not beare false wytnesse,\" etc.)
- The opening of the Shema, beginning:
\"Heare O Israel, the LORD our GOD is LORD onely...\"
The Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) is among the most important declarations of biblical faith and has been recited daily by Jews for centuries. Combined with the repetition of the Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy 5, this leaf preserves two of the foundational texts of biblical religion on a single original page.
Printed in handsome English black letter in double columns with extensive marginal references and notes characteristic of the Matthew\'s Bible tradition derived largely from the work of William Tyndale and John Rogers.
Book: Deuteronomy (The Fifth Book of Moses)
Chapters: Deuteronomy 5-6
Date: 1549
Bible: Matthew\'s Bible (Edmund Becke edition)
Printers: John Day and William Seres, London
STC: 2077
Format: Folio leaf
Size: Approximately 12 x 7½ inches (30.5 x 19 cm)
Condition as shown. Some losses to margins and old repairs, but the principal texts of both the Ten Commandments and the Shema remain clear and highly displayable.
The seller recently acquired a rare oil portrait, catalogued at sale as English School, 17th century and traditionally identified as John Rogers (c.1500-1555), editor of the Matthew Bible and the first Marian martyr. In researching the portrait, the seller has found that painted likenesses of Rogers are extraordinarily scarce, and no earlier surviving oil portrait of Rogers is presently known to the seller. This rarity underscores the exceptional historical importance of original leaves from the Matthew Bible, the work most closely associated with Rogers\'s name.
Original 1549 Matthew\'s Bible leaf containing the Ten Commandments and the Shema from Deuteronomy 5-6, printed by John Day and William Seres, an authentic English Reformation artifact associated with John Rogers and William Tyndale.
