Arthur Golding's English Translation of the Psalms

The Psalms of David and Others.
San Francisco: Arion Press, 1977.
(10597)

Printed by Andrew Hoyem – Compositors: George F. Ritchie, George Shakespear – Pressman: Glenn Todd – Illuminated initials by Thomas Ingmire – Binding by Lage Carlson

The Psalms of David and Others further demonstrates the importance the Arion Press and its proprietor, Andrew Hoyem, placed on the selection of text for printing. For the fifth book of the Press, and its first biblical title, Hoyem turned to an early interest he had developed in the translations of Arthur Golding (1536–1606). The texts of the Psalms were Golding’s English translations of John Calvin’s (1509–1564) Latin, which Calvin had translated from the original Hebrew. Calvin’s Psalms had been published amid his commentaries, which Golding had translated in 1571. It was from this extensive work, Golding’s translation of Calvin’s Commentaries, that the English Psalms themselves were extracted. Hoyem justifiably referred to this translation as “virtually unknown.” Richard G. Barnes, Professor of English at Pomona College, edited the text and wrote an introductory essay which the Press published as a companion piece to the Psalms.

Hoyem selected Trajan Capitals for the title and initials and Goudy New Style for the text. A six-line, multi-colored and gilt initial further enhanced the openings of each chapter. Printed in an edition of two hundred, this copy features a one-of-a-kind binding by Lage Carlson and an additional, unique, calligraphic title page on vellum by Richard Levine.