Merten de Keyser
Merten de Keyser | |
|---|---|
| Born | Martin Lempereur |
| Died | 1536 |
| Occupation(s) | Printer, publisher |
| Years active | Early 16th century – 1536 |
| Known for | Earliest complete French and English Bible translations by English Protestant writers |
Merten de Keyser (originally named Martin Lempereur; died 1536) was a French printer and publisher from the 16th century, mainly operating in Antwerp. He is recognized for producing the earliest complete French and English Bible translations authored by English Protestant writers.
Life
Details about his personal history remain scarce. He wed Françoise La Rouge, the daughter of Parisian printer Guillaume Le Rouge, whose printing establishment he took over in 1517. Due to prohibitions imposed in Paris against evangelical literature and Bible translations in 1525, he moved his operations to Antwerp.
While working in Antwerp, he modified his name to suit the language of the texts he printed: Martinus Caesar for Latin editions, Merten de Keyser for Dutch publications, and Martyne Emperowr for English works. He passed away in Antwerp in 1536, after which his widow maintained the printing business.
Publications
De Keyser was responsible for publishing many works by the French humanist Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples, including Lefèvre’s French Psalter (1525), the French Old Testament (1528), the French New Testament (1529–1535), as well as the first fully printed French Bible (1530, 1534). Additionally, he printed Lefèvre’s Quincuplex Psalterium, a Psalter presenting five Latin versions of the Psalms.
His Dutch-language output comprised editions of New Testaments, Psalters, partial biblical translations, and various religious writings. The printer’s mark of De Keyser appears on the second complete Dutch Bible (1528) issued by fellow printer Willem Vorsterman, suggesting collaboration among printers located on the same street.
De Keyser also engaged extensively with the English publishing market. In 1528, he printed William Tyndale's The obedience of a Christen man; followed by Tyndale's The practyse of Prelates and his Pentateuch translation in 1530. The year 1531 saw publications of Tyndale's Exposition of the fyrste Epistle of seynt Ihon, George Joye's Isaiah translation, and Tyndale's Jonah translation—the latter two released together as a dual edition. Thomas Abell’s Invicta Veritas, which criticized Henry VIII’s divorce, was printed there in 1532.
In 1533, De Keyser issued John Frith's posthumous reply to Thomas More from the Tower of London. The following year featured the second revised edition of Tyndale’s New Testament, Joye’s updated version of the Davids Psalter based on Zwingli’s Latin Psalter, and Joye’s translation of Jeremiah—these represent the first English printings of these Old Testament texts. Importantly, De Keyser is acknowledged for printing the first complete English Bible, known as the Coverdale Bible.
Among his Latin publications were Robert Estienne’s critical revision of the Vulgate Latin Bible (for example, in 1534) and reissues of Erasmus’ Latin New Testament translations.
Records also show that De Keyser published at least one work in Leuven in 1532.