Over the next few decades, scholars of the sixteenth century are likely to be overwhelmed by commemorations and celebrations, as the five-hundredth anniversaries of key events, publications and deaths are marked with regularity. 2017, of course, may have been one of the most prominent, marking as it did the quincentenary of the supposed ‘start’ of the Reformation in 1517. Inevitably this has overshadowed those events around it, but it is entirely appropriate that the publication of Erasmus’ New Testament in Basel in 1516 should also be marked, given its contribution to humanism, the biblical scholarship of the age and the reputation of its author. This collection of essays, which had its origins in a conference held in Basel in 2014, seeks to do just that. After a preface by the editors, the fifteen contributions (eleven in English, four in German) are divided into three sections, dealing respectively with the background, nature and impact of Erasmus’ volume.

Opening the first section, on ‘The Novum instrumentum 1516 and its Philological Background’, Mark Vessey looks again at the circumstances surrounding Erasmus’ decision to settle in Basel, arguing that this also marked a ‘critical turn’ in his outlook, as he began to devote himself seriously to biblical scholarship, and this volume became in a sense an expression of his revised priorities. Having located the work within Erasmus’ career, the other three contributions in this section contextualise it in relation to other broader phenomena. Erika Rummel sets Erasmus’ edition in the context of Renaissance biblical humanism, which she categorises as both a form of literary criticism and as a methodology. While the humanists believed that the Bible should be able to be subjected to literary appraisal, they appreciated that it was more controversial to seek to amend the text, even when they could identify what they felt were clear errors. Such criticism became all the more contentious with the advent of the Reformation. August den Hollander sets the Novum instrumentum against the production of vernacular Bibles in the Low Countries in the later Middle Ages, identifying a number of the key translations which survive from the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries. While Erasmus’ Devotio moderna was closely associated with much of this activity, it is frustratingly difficult to assess what impact this might have had on Erasmus. Ignacio García Pinilla, finally, seeks to examine the relationship of Erasmus’ edition to the Complutensian Polyglot, elements of which had hit the presses before Erasmus but which was only completed in 1520. While it has previously been noted that Erasmus’ revised 1527 edition had reflected the influence of this Spanish work, Garcia Pinilla demonstrates that there were already traces – albeit rather hidden – in parts of the 1522 edition.

The second section, ‘The Text of the New Testament and its Additions’, begins with two articles, by Patrick Andrist and Andrew J. Brown, which are concerned with the various manuscripts on which Erasmus’ work was based, many of which had been brought to Basel by the Dominican friar John Stojkković of Ragusa. Martin Wallraff then directs our attention to those paratextual materials with which the work was supplemented, which Erasmus derived from his original manuscripts (such as introductory texts and summaries). In so doing, Wallraff makes the case for the influence of Byzantine manuscripts, something that Brown had sought to downplay. Mieske van Poll-van de Lisdonck surveys a range of writings, in the Novum instrumentum and beyond, through which Erasmus offered further comment on the biblical text. Similarly, Jans Krans examines two works, the Capita (‘Chief points’) and Soloecismi (‘Solecisms’), which first appeared in the second edition of 1519. The former is a polemical text, aimed at undermining the Vulgate; the latter is a list of errors arranged under seven headings. Finally Silvana Seidel Menchi provides a fascinating account of the way in which Erasmus’ initial optimism about his project was gradually worn away, at least in part as it was rather hijacked by the Reformation, with the result that his edition of the Bible, rather than being for all, became a book for specialists.

Valentina Sebastiani opens the third section, ‘Communication and Reception’, with an assessment of the Novum instrumentum as a publishing phenomenon. In particular she draws attention to the slow sales of the first edition, and the various ways in which both Erasmus and his publisher Froben sought to increase demand for the subsequent editions. Marie Barral-Baron's article is concerned with what was subversive about Erasmus’ New Testament: while Erasmus was convinced that he was working in the best interests of Christ, his activities seemed provocative, particularly when it appeared that he was sympathetic to the Reformation. The last three articles examine Erasmus’ impact in three distinct territories. Greta Kroeker focuses on Italy, looking in particular at his influence on the cardinals Gasparo Contarini and Jacopo Sadoleto, who flourished in the period leading up to the Council of Trent. Sundar Henny's fascinating chapter looks at the considerable influence of Erasmus’ New Testament on the biblical scholarship in the realms of Francophone Protestantism. Christine Christ-von Wedel then complements this with an examination of his impact on German-speaking Protestantism, a survey which stretches through to the eighteenth century.

This is a fine collection of essays which sheds light on Erasmus’ New Testament from a diverse but complementary range of angles. Some of the contributions review quite familiar questions but encourage us to revisit and challenge our assumptions; others are very much at the cutting edge of scholarship, indicating that, even after five hundred years, there is much more for us to learn about this epochal text. None the less, this volume is a fitting tribute to one of the crowning glories of the ‘prince of humanists’.