An exhortation to the diligent studye of scripture and An exposition into the seventh chaptre of the pistle to the Corinthians

Douglas Parker presents an old-spelling, critical edition of William Roye’s English translation of Erasmus’ An exhortation to the diligent studye of scripture (or Paraclesis) , and Martin Luther’s An exposition in to the seventh chaptre of the pistle to the Corinthians (his commentary on St. Paul’s 1 Corinthians 7), first published together in 1529.

Roye’s translation of Erasmus’ Paraclesis was momentous because it underscored the reformers’ call for a vernacular Bible, thereby providing them with a voice of authority that conservative forces could not ignore. Roye’s translation of Luther was the first full-scale English rendering of a work by the great arch-heretic, and its subject matter (the iniquities of the unmarried clergy) suggested a unity of vision between European and English reformers. Most importantly, these two tracts were published together, ironically enough, thereby suggesting a unity of vision that neither Erasmus nor Luther would have been prepared to countenance.

Parker’s thorough volume includes: a literary/historical introduction situating the text and explaining its importance for the English reform movement; an essay on the fidelity of Roye’s English renderings of the original Latin and German texts; commentary that glosses difficult readings, identifies all biblical and secular references, provides analogues from early English reformation tracts and from some of Erasmus’ and Luther’s other writings. This is a critical work for scholars of the English reformation movement.