6. The Vulgate Bible of Robertus'Stephanus, Paris, 1528,
the first genuine attempt at a critical edition : three good MSS were collated for it. This was followed by a larger edition on the same lines, for which seventeen MSS were collated, four of which can be still identified ; printed 1538-40, reprinted 1.546. This editimi is prac- tically the foUTldation of the ojficial Roman Vu^ate; it is cited as 5" in Wordsworth's edition. •, Parallel attempts at producing a critical text by the aid of MSS and earlier printed Bibles were being made by the Cathohc Theologians at Louvain ; and John Uenteuius in his fine folio edition (Louvain, 1547, and often reprinted) used about thirty-one MSS and two printed copies ; it is impossible to identify them now. This edition is cited as J^ by Wordsworth.
7. The small and rare octavo edition of Robertus Stephanus,
dated 1555, should be noticed, as it is the first Latin
Bible with the modem verse divisions. The Sixtine and Clementine editions are noticed below. The output of printed Bibles was very large ; during the first half century of printing some 124 editions were published ; Ver- cellone enumerates 179 editions again between the years 1471 and 1599; and, in addition to these, numerous scholars, both Rora. Cath. and Protestant, undertook independent translations of the Bible into Latin, as well as revisions of the Vulgate text. Remembering this, we may be able to realize what a bewildering amount of differing versions were now current, all or any of which might appear to the ordinan.- reader as the Editio Vulijata. Such new translations were made on the Rom. Cath. side by Erasmus, Johannes Rudelius, .\u^. Steuchus of Gubbio, Isidore Clarins, Sanctes Pagninus, Cardmal Caietan, and Job. Bene- dictus ; on the Protestant side by Andr. Osiander, Conr. Pel- licanus, Sebastian Mtmster, Leo Judas (the Zurich version), and Seb. Castellio.t
All these editions, however, even on the Catholic side, were the undertakings of private individuals ; and neither Church nor pope had given to any one the full sanction of their authority. Yet the Council of Trent, in its fourth sitting (8th April 1.546), h>ad already taken care to pronounce on the Canon of Scripture, and to enumerate a list of the books it helii as canonical (see below, p. 885). Then, in the ' Decretum de editione et usu sacronim librorura,' pleading the advantage that would accrue to the Church if, out of the many current Latin editions, one should be held as 'authcntlca,'
* See \V. A. Copinger, Incunabula Biblica, London, 1S92.
t See Kaulen, p. 314 ; Scrivener-Miller, Introduction, ii. pp. 176-181.
! See Kaulen, pp. 31S-878 ; the Ziirich version of the Psalms w.a» used in the daily College Service at Christ Oburch, Oxford, *s long as that ser^'ice was said in Latin.
it proceeded to declare and resolve, ' ut h;ec ipsa vetus et vulgata editio quoe longo tot steculorum us>i in ipsa ecclesia probata est, in publicis lecti- onibus, etc., pro atithcntica habeatur, et ut nemo illam rujicere quovis prtetextu audeat vel praesumat.' It also ordered that ' hfec ipsa vetus et vulgata editio quam emendatisslme imprimatur.' Two questions naturally suggest themselves as to this decree : what is the real meaning of ' authentica ' ? and what was the exact tjpe of text, the ' vetus et vulgata editio,' which was thus designated ?
The word 'authentica' seems to have been used and understood not only in the sense of ojficial,* but also in the sense of accitrate — at any rate to the extent that there were no mistakes in it which might lead to false doctrine in faith or morals ; it was in this sense that scholars like Andreas Vega and Bellarmine understood the word.t No verbal inspiration or infallible accuracy was cl.aimcd for it. Scholars might read their Bibles in the original tongues if they wished ; but for ordinary use it was advisable to have one standard edition (' auth- eiilicam hac mente ut cujus fas sit earn legere sine periculo ') instead of a number of independent and unauthorized translations.
In regard to the second question, it ia difficult to believe that the Fathers of the Council had in their minds any one particular printed or manu- script copy as the edition ' longo tot s;ECulorum usu in ecclesia probata ' ; J probably they were speaking quite generally, and meant by this ex- pression the Hleronymian text, which they believed to have been fairly transmitted through the Middle Ages, and to have been recognized by the Cliurch and used in her services^as against the bewilder- ing amount of new translations and arbitrarily corrected texts.
Though the Council thus ordered the preparation of an otHcial Vulgate, no immediate action was taken by the Church. John Hentenius, however, a professor at Louvain, undertook the preparation of an edition : this is the edition mentioned above (preced. col.. No. 6), and often reprinted. The various Hentenian editions remained for some years as the standard text of the Roman Church, but were still private publications.
Yet the task of preparing an official text occu- pied the minds of several popes, and under Plus IV. and Pius v. etl'orts were made at Kome to collect some of the oldest and most valuable MSS ob- tainable, and a commission was appointed to carry on the work. It was not, however, con- tinuou.sly pursued till the pontificate of Sixtus v. (1585-1590), who pushed forward the revision of the text with great zeal. He summoned afresh the committee of cardinals and scholars under the presidency of Cardinal Caraffa, entrusted them with the task, but worked himself with unwearied diligence at examining the readings and correcting the proofs.§ Old MSS and printed editions were consulted, and, where the authorities were divided, those readings were favoured which agreed with the original Greek or Hebrew. The result was the handsome Sixtine Edition of the Vulgate, which appeared in 1590, printed at the Vatican press, and bearing the following title — on the first page : Biblui I Sacra | Vulgatce | Editionis | tribiis tomis | distijtcta \ Romce \ ex Typugraphia Apostolica Vati- cana, \ M-D-XC | ; on the second page : Biblia Sacra ] Vulgatw editionis \ ad \ concihi Tridentini \