The Quest for the Early Modern Bible Reader: The Dutch Vorsterman Bible (1533–1534), its Readers and Users

Bert Tops

doi:10.1515/jemc-2019-2010

Article

The Quest for the Early Modern Bible Reader: The Dutch Vorsterman Bible (1533–1534), its Readers and Users

Bert Tops

Published/Copyright: December 7, 2019

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From the journal Journal of Early Modern Christianity Volume 6 Issue 2

Abstract

This article investigates a book-archeological approach to early modern Bible reading that maps the complex interactions between the substantive elements of a book (text, paratext, illustrations) on the one hand, and its historical readers and the traces they left on the other. That method is applied to all 43 extant copies of the Dutch Vorsterman Bible of 1533–1534. The editions printed by Willem Vorsterman were for a long time regarded as Protestant. However, the Bibles had the approval of the secular and ecclesiastic authorities and were intended for a Catholic public. The edition of 1533–1534 is a glossed Bible with many historicizing, chronological, linguistic and typological paratextual elements. The former owners of the 43 Bibles and their confessional background are examined. Intended and unintended traces of use give clues to the actual use of the Bible. The article turns at the end to a heavily annotated copy, examining the religious ideas of the annotator and the way in which he used the Bible.

Keywords: the Low Countries in the Reformation Era; sixteenth-century Dutch Bibles; Willem Vorsterman; literacy; reading and reader markings; Catholic readers; book-archeology

Appendix 1: Overview of the former owners (and their location) of the extant copies of the Vorsterman Bible (1533–1534), alphabetically arranged according to the place and library where they are currently preserved

Explanation: […] indicates unreadable / crossed-out ownership marks. The blank fields indicate that no information can be derived from the marks. Bibles without property marks are marked by ////. The last column gives the total number of annotations in each copy; in the current state of the research, I have not yet been able to attribute each of the annotations to a particular identifiable annotator.

Library	Signature	Folio	Name/Information	Type	Confession	Period	Place	Annotations
Amsterdam BVU	XC 05042	Pastedown	Latin annotation: […]			18th c.		2
Amsterdam UB	Ned. Inc. 104	Endpaper	Genealogical annotations family Winkelaar	Laymen (family)		19th c.	Zaandam (N.-Holland)
		Title page	[…]
		Pastedown	Ex libris: Frederik Willem Grosheide, dr Theol.	Prof. Theology (exegesis)	Reformed	1907	Amsterdam
		fol. +2 v.	Anth. Card[…]			17th c.
		fol. +2 v.	Leonard Valcke	Layman		18th c.
		fol. A1r.	Ex libris: […]			17th c.
		Endpaper	[…]			1712
		Endpaper	[…]			1735
		Endpaper	J.A. Walwein	Layman	Catholic?	18th c.	Ypres (W.-Flanders)
Antwerp Hendrik Conscience Heritage Library	F 210700: ex1	fol. Q8v.	The guard of the prison of The Hague			16th c.	The Hague
	F 210700:ex2	fol. N4r.	Jan Cornelis Lacouterz (Lacaunter)	Layman		16th c.
	F 210700:ex2	Endpaper	Peeter Lambrechts	Laymen		1804	Boechout (Antwerp); Kampenhout (Flemish-Brabant)
Antwerp Private copy		////////	////////////////////////////////	/////////////	/////////////	//////	//////////////////////////
Bruges GS	GGB 1092	Endpaper	Jean Baptiste Delafontaine	Layman	Catholic	19th c.	Meulebeke (W.-Flanders)	6
		Title page	[…]
		Endpaper	[…]			19th c.	Meulebeke (W.-Flanders)
Brussels KB	II 33969 C LP	fol. G2v.	Bernardus Berckmans	Parish priest	Catholic	18th c.	Herne (Flemish-Brabant)	1
Brussels KB	VB 175 C	Title page	Initials: I.SG			18th c.?
Cologne USB	GBIV3735	Title page	Ex libris frat(rum) Birgittanorum Mariȩ ad arborem in Clivia	Regular clerics (Brigittines)		17th c.	Xanten (N. Rhine- Westphalia)
Ghent O. Carmel	MIA.7, dl. 1-2	Endpaper	A. Loos presbyter	Priest	Catholic	18th c.
The Hague KB	228 A 13	Endpaper	Mathijs van Giensbergen	Layman		17th c.	Heusden (N-Brabant?)
The Hague KB	228 A 13	Endpaper	Josephus Vanderachter	Regular cleric (Norbertine)	Catholic	1694	Tongerlo (Antwerp)
The Hague Private collection		Endpaper	Note by anonymous byer	Layman	Catholic	1676	Prince-Bishopric Liège
Harrisburg EMU	H 220.53931 B47 1533–34 EC	////////	////////////////////////////////	/////////////	/////////////	//////	//////////////////////////
Heeswijk-Dinther Berne (O. Praem)	Postinc. 133	Pastedown	[Ex libris:] B. J. Heijmeijer	Layman		19th c.	Amsterdam?	90 (in the table of Epistels and Gospels)
Leiden UB	1497 B 10	Front cover	Geraldus Welhovcus, possibly burgomaster of Delft	Layman	Reformed?	17th c.	Delft? (S.-Holland)	85 (throughout the Bible)
Leuven Maurits Sabbe Library	P22.055.1/Fo BIJB 1533 C	fol. a1v.	Klappaert	Layman	Catholic	18th c.	Ghent?
		fol. c5v.	Joannes Francis[cus] Clapaert	Layman	Catholic	18th c.	Ghent?
		Passim	Anonymous annotator	Cleric?	Catholic; (with Reformation-minded undertone)	16th c.	Ghent?	450 (Cf. Table 1)
	PP22.055.1/Fo BIJB 1533 A	////////	////////////////////////////////	/////////////	/////////////	//////	//////////////////////////	9
	*P22.055.1/Fo BIJB 1533 B ()**	////////	////////////////////////////////	/////////////	/////////////	//////	//////////////////////////
	P22.055.1/Fo BIJB 1532 B ()**	////////	////////////////////////////////	/////////////	/////////////	//////	//////////////////////////
London BL	3023.e.7	Endpaper	Ex libris: […] prince August Frederick of Sussex	Layman (bibliophile)		19th c.	Kensington (United Kingdom)	3
		Title page	[…]
		Title page	[…]
Liège GS	1.E.6	Endpaper	Theodricus ab Ubach	Regular cleric (Crosier)	Catholic	1540	Huy (Liège)
		Endpaper	Paulus Proveners	Regular cleric (Crosier)	Catholic	1556	Huy (Liège)
		Title page	Conventus Cruciferorum Hui	Regular clerics (convent Crosiers)	Catholic	ca. 1600	Huy (Liège)
Maastricht SB	Rolduc Sem 6041 D 2	////////	////////////////////////////////	/////////////	/////////////	//////	//////////////////////////
Manchester John Rylands Library	R22417	Pastedown	Ex libris: Richard William Smith Griffith	Layman (bibliophile)		19th c.	United Kingdom?	9
Munich SB	4 B.rel. 50 c	Pastedown	P.A. Kampers	Parish priest	Catholic	1830	Beesel (Dutch Limburg)	3
		fol. D4r.; D4v.; Q8r.	[…] his housewife belongs this book	Layperson (woman)		17th c.
		fol. Q8v.	[…]			16th c.
Mortsel Private copy		Endpaper	Henricus Scheers	Parish priest	Catholic	1741	Kasterlee (N.-Brabant)
		Title page	Jan der […]	Laymen		17th c.
		fol. Q8v.	[…]
New York Morgan Library	PML 126367	fol. Q8v.	[…]
New York PL	KB + 1534 Bible. N.T. Dutch (**)	////////	////////////////////////////////	/////////////	/////////////	///////	//////////////////////////	1
Nijmegen UB	P.Inc 98	fol. Q8v.	Wedding Johan van Burden and Margarita van […]	Laymen (family)		16th c.
Nijmegen UB	P.Inc 417	////////	////////////////////////////////	/////////////	/////////////	//////	//////////////////////////
Oxford Bodleian	Bib. Dutch c.2	////////	////////////////////////////////	/////////////	/////////////	//////	//////////////////////////
Strasbourg BNU	R.11.014	Pastedown	Ex libris: prof. Dr Eduard Reuss	dr Theology (exegesis)	Reformed	19th c.	Strasbourg
		Title page	sum conventus […] fratrum conventualium	Regular clerics (convent Friars Minor-Conventuals)	Catholic	1674
		Title page	Initials: F(ratres) R(egulares) F(ratrum) C(onventualium) /[…]	Regular clerics (convent Friars Minor-Conventuals)		18th c.
		Title page	J. Niefert	Parish priest	Catholic	1820	Velen (N. Rhine-Westphalia)
Stuttgart WLB	Bb niederländ. 1534 02	////////	////////////////////////////////	/////////////	/////////////	//////	//////////////////////////
Tilburg UB	TFK E152	Endpaper	Fr(ater) Francisci Gravius	Regular clerics (order unknown)	Catholic	19th c.
		fol. Q8v.	Cornelia von Eilb […]: "Gott ist mein troß allein"	Layperson (woman)	Lutheran?	16th c.
		fol. Q8v.	[…]			16th c.
		Title page	Capucinorum Geldriensium	Regular clerics (convent Capucins)	Catholic	17th c.	Geldern (N. Rhine-Westphalia)
	TFK E153	Endpaper	Capucinorum f(ratrum) Masecanorum	Regular clerics (convent Capucins)	Catholic	18th c.	Maaseik (Limburg)
Tongerlo	212 H1	Endpaper	L Vercruysse / 1851	Layperson		1851		53 (mainly in 3 and 4 Ezra)
		fol. Q8v	frater Joannes Helbrecht Hal[…]	Regular cleric (order unknown)	Catholic	16th c.
		fol. Q8v.	Bernaert K[…]rs son of late Roger […]	Layman		16th c.
		fol. Q8v.	Hans Marcke[…]	Layman		16th c.
Utrecht MCC	BMH p.i. 65	////////	////////////////////////////////	/////////////	/////////////	//////	//////////////////////////
Utrecht UB-THO	RAR 6-57	Endpaper	Pater Bertinus	Regular cleric (order unknown)	Catholic	1812	Ravestein (N.-Brabant)
	RAR 6-57	Endpaper	A. Smits (°Zeeland)	Parish priest	Catholic	1823	Reek (N.-Brabant)
	RAR 5-55	Endpaper	Genealogical annotations married couple B.J. Timmermann (°Frankfurt-am-Main) and Marina Daalmulder (°Amsterdam).	Laymen (family)	Catholic	1795–1826	Frankfurt-am-Main; Amsterdam; Düsseldorf; Lobith (Gelderland); Wesel (N. Rhine-Westphalia)
	RAR 5-55	Endpaper	Genealogical annotations married couple Paulus Michielse and Cornelia Hoffmanss.	Laymen (family)		1644–1649
	RAR 5-56	////////	////////////////////////////////	/////////////	/////////////	//////	//////////////////////////
	RAR 5-41	////////	////////////////////////////////	/////////////	/////////////	//////	//////////////////////////	2
Wolfenbüttel HAB	H: A 169.2° Helmst.	////////	////////////////////////////////	/////////////	/////////////	//////	//////////////////////////
Zaltbommel Stadskasteel	3511	fol. A6v. ; Q8r.	Annotations possibly by a wife after the decease of her husband	Layperson (wife)		16th c.
		Endpaper	Genealogical annotations by Cornelia vander Werrelt, wife of Jan Koenisze. Mention of Ferdinandus Appelman, priest of the Beguinage of Haarlem	Layperson (wife)	Catholic	18th c.	Haarlem
		Endpaper	[Ex libris:] dr G.J. Jaspers	dr Linguististics	Reformed	20th c.	Amsterdam
Religious institution that wishes to remain anonymous		Title page	[Initials]: AI
Religious institution that wishes to remain anonymous		fol. +2r.	Capucinen tot Meersel	Regular clerics (convent Capucins)	Catholic	18th c.	Meersel (Antwerp)

*Leuven, Maurits Sabbe Library, P22.055.1/Fo BIJB 1533 B, contains only the Old Testament.
**Leuven, Maurits Sabbe Library, P22.055.1/Fo BIJB 1532 B, is actually a copy from the years 1533–1534, although a page from the 1532 edition, containing the colophon of the Old Testament part (fol. 2D4) has later been joined to this 1533–1534 copy.
***New York PL, *KB + 1534 Bible. N.T. Dutch, contains only the New Testament. We were not (yet) able to retrieve or localize three copies which are nevertheless included in the most important historical catalogues (see www.bibliasacra.nl): Berlin Prussian State Library, 4" Bw 6731 (which is presumed to have been taken to Moscow); Nijmegen Albertinum, Pr.B 24^; and Enkhuizen Oud-Kath. Pastorie, no shelf mark.

Published Online: 2019-12-07

Published in Print: 2019-12-18

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/jemc-2019-2010

Keywords for this article

the Low Countries in the Reformation Era; sixteenth-century Dutch Bibles; Willem Vorsterman; literacy; reading and reader markings; Catholic readers; book-archeology