First Douay-Rheims Bible

The New Testament of Jesus Christ. Rheims: John Fogny, 1582. (Prothro B-08)

The Holie Bible Faithfully Translated into English out of the Authentical Latin. 2 vols. Douay: Laurence Kellam, 1609–10. (Prothro B-52)

Preparation of an English translation of the Bible appropriate for Roman Catholic readers was begun by exiles in Douay during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. There, and later at Rheims, a group of English Catholics translated directly from the Vulgate into English, giving traditional readings priority over strictly philological questions. Today, if one wishes to read a faithful English version of the Latin Bible as it was understood before the Reformation, one turns to the Douay-Rheims translation. The New Testament was published alone in 1582; the Douay-Rheims Old Testament appeared in 1609–10.