Paine, Wycliffe, Gutenberg: the nativity

■Gutenberg 1454 vol. 2, p. 436

Interpretation to Modern English © Teresa Pelka, M.A.

Thomas Paine’s Age of Reason, Conway vol. 4, page 39.
The first four books, called Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, do not give a history of the life of Jesus Christ, but only detached anecdotes of him. It appears from these 
books, that the whole time of his being a preacher was not more than eighteen months; and it was only during this short time that those men became acquainted with him. 
They make mention of him at the age of twelve years, sitting, they say, among the Jewish doctors, asking and answering them questions. As this was several years before their acquaintance with him began, it is most probable they had this anecdote from his parents. From this time there is no account of him for about sixteen years. Where he lived, or how he employed himself during this interval, is not known. Most probably he was working at his father’s
trade, which was that of a carpenter. It does not appear
that he had any school education, and the probability is, 
that he could not write, for his parents were extremely poor, as appears from their not being able to pay for a bed when he was born.

Moncure Daniel Conway volume 4, page12:
In editing Part I of “The Age of Reason”, I follow closely the first edition, which was printed by Barrois in Paris from the manuscript, no doubt under the superintendence of Joel Barlow, to whom Paine, on his way to the Luxembourg, had confided it. Barlow was an American ex-clergyman, a speculator on whose career French archives cast an unfavorable light, and one cannot be certain that no liberties were taken with Paine’s proofs. 


The first print does not exist anymore:
Under the frown of Couthon, one of the most atrocious colleagues of Robespierre, this early publication seems to have been so effectually suppressed that no copy bearing that date, 1793, can be found in France or elsewhere (Conway p. 2).

Page 39, doubted content marked out:
Most probably he was working at his father’s trade, which was that of a carpenter. //It does not appear that he had any school education, and the probability is, 
that he could not write, for his parents were extremely poor, as appears from their not being able to pay for a bed when he was born.//

Wrote Thomas Paine about his living experience on page 62:
Though I went to the grammar school, I did not learn Latin, not only because I had no inclination to learn languages, but because of the objection the Quakers have against the books in which the language is taught. But this did not prevent me from being acquainted with the subjects of all the Latin books used in the school.

Living experience by standard would show that people able to read can also write. Calligraphic styles only may have been uncommon.

Gutenberg calligraphy has the singular here, 1454 & ■1456, non erat ei locus, which may express a circumstance of an ancient Roman census, or remain the original calligrapher’s error. Wycliffe translates the singular; Vuyek renders as the plural, and my Modern English presents visible text, as is linguistic practice.

It may be doubted if Thomas Paine consulted the Gutenberg, and the text has focus to the singular, to pay for a bed, whereas most later Bible texts (if not all) would have the plural, there was no room for them in the inn.

My curator copy does not remove any content; it has the indispensable comment; work is in progress.

It is necessary to note that no ancient Roman census required that people returned to their original hometowns. Romans would have had to send a census official to each Judean town or municipality then. Their method for Rome was to take a pater familias testimony under oath. The wives and children did not have to be present. The census was held at Campus Martius, a singular locality.