"… THAT ALL MANER OF BOOKES OF THE OLDE AND NEWE TESTAMENT IN ENGLISHE, BEINGE OF THE CRAFTIE, FALSE AND UNTRUE TRANSLATION OF TINDALL… SHALL BE BY AUTHORITIE OF THIS PRESENT ACTE CLERELY AND UTTERLIE ABOLISHED, EXTINGUISHED, AND FORBIDDEN, TO BE KEPT OR USED IN THIS REALME…"

(HENRY VIII) PARLIAMENT. [Acts]. Anno XXXIIII et. V. Henrici VIII. London: [T. Powell], 1562. Slim folio (8 by 11-1/2 inches), modern full brown morocco. $3800.

Early edition of the Parliamentary Acts of 1542, featuring 25 acts, featuring the important Act for the Advancement of True Religion and the first English act dealing with Bankruptcy, finely printed in black-letter with lovely historiated woodcut initials.

The first, and most important, act passed by the Parliament in 1542 banned the reading (or owning) of the Bible in English—at that point, Tyndale's translation—in England for most of the population. Exceptions were made for the clergy, the gentry, wealthy merchants, and the wives of the gentry and nobility (who were only allowed to read it in private), effectively barring the Bible in English from the vast majority of the population. By the time of the act's passage, Tyndale was already dead, executed near Brussels in 1536 after being convicted of heresy for his promotion of theology influenced by Martin Luther. And Tyndale himself had never actually published a full Bible in English, having only managed individual publications of the New Testament, the Pentateuch, and a few other books of the bible; the first full Bible in English was actually produced by Miles Coverdale in 1536, based heavily on Tyndale's earlier publications. The act also banned numerous other categories of books, although it did provide exceptions for "statutes and lawes of the realme, cronicles, Canturbury tales, Chaucers bookes, Gowers bookes, and stories of menns lives." The acts from this year are also notable for containing the Statute of Bankrupts, the first codification of law for bankruptcy in England. First published in 1543, with several editions or issues following soon after; this is one of two editions published in 1562. Without the acts for Wales. STC 9409.

Foxing to a few leaves, mild dampstaining to inner margin of some early leaves, but text readable and clear; handsomely bound. Rare.