COVERDALE, Miles (1488-1569), the celebrated translator of the first complete English Bible, was born in Yorkshire in 1488. He was educated at Cambridge in the house of the Augustine friars, and, after having been admitted into that order, was ordained priest at Norwich in 1514. On the promulgation of the Reformed opinions at Cambridge, Coverdale was amongst the first to abandon his allegiance to the Church of Rome; and probably finding it unsafe to remain in England, he went abroad, and according to Foxe assisted Tyndale in translating the Bible. There seems, however, to be some reason to doubt Foxe’s statement, which is entirely unsupported by corroborative evidence. Coverdale remained in total obscurity until 1535, when he published his own translation, with a dedication to Henry VIII., who had now come to an irreparable breach with the Pope. This was the earliest translation of the whole Bible in the English language, and the Psalms in it are those which are now usedin the Book of Common Prayer. Although it is not an immediate version of the original (the title bearing that it is “truly translated out of Douche and Latyn ”), it has many merits. Much of the rhythmical flow and finely-balanced cadence of the authorized version may be traced back to Coverdale. With the sanction of the king, Coverdale went to Paris in 1538 to superintend the publication of a new edition; but a decree of the Inquisition broke up the printing-establishment, and consigned the sheets already finished to the flames. A few copies, however, having been sold as waste-paper, were preserved; and these, with the presses which were transported to England, were used in printing Cranmer ’ s or the Great Bible, under the superintendence of Coverdale, which was published in 1539. After 1540 ...