This 9 X 12-inch Bible contained no footnotes, but due to its extra-heavy paper, its bulky covers and many illustrations including woodcuts, it was not only very expensive to produce, but also massive in weight. By royal edict, this Bible was to be available to all subjects, therefore it was to be placed in churches for the public and readers were to be supplied for those who were illiterate.

This Bible also became known as the Chained Bible due to its having been chained to the reading desks to forestall theft!

One BIG Bible! -- In Chains!

The Matthew Bible, which was becoming increasingly popular, had many strongly anti-Catholic footnotes. Since it has been officially approved by the king through Archbishop Cranmer (albeit under pseudonym), it was becoming an embarrassment to Thomas Cromwell, who was King Henry's spokesman in Parliament and liaison with other Catholic countries. So a revision to the Matthew Bible was authorized in 1538.

With the king's permission, Cromwell commissioned Coverdale and publisher Richard Grafton to revise the Matthew Bible, eliminating the notes. Finer paper and superior printing presses were available in France, so Cromwell arranged for it to be printed there. French King Charles I didn't care, since the translation was being not made into French. Coverdale and his assistant arrived in Paris in late spring, 1538 and began operations.

The Inquisition became worrisome to the team, so on December 13 Coverdale and Grafton persuaded the English ambassador to take most of the papers to Cromwell. Four days later the work stopped and the men had to flee for their lives. The pages they'd left behind were condemned to be burned but a hatmaker who was an English agent bought some of the papers on the pretext that he needed packing for his product. Under cover of night, other agents stole the remaining papers, the presses, the type, and even the printers, whisking them to London.

In April 1539 the entire Bible was finished. This edition was done under royal patronage, so no dedication page was created. On the title page, a wood engraving illustrating in detail the story of royal supremacy, was inscribed,

The Byble in Englyshe, that is to saye the content of all the Holy Scrypture, bothe of ye Olde and Newe Testament, truly translated after the veryte of the Hebrue and Greke Textes, by ye dylygent studye of dyuerse excellent learned men, expert in theforsayde tongues.

Within two years, 20,000 copies had been distributed. Cranmer passed the verdict that it contained no heresies and the throne declared that it was to be placed in every parish church in the land. By the end of 1541 there were no fewer than seven editions.

The Great Bible, known variously as The Chained Bible or Cranmer's Bible, remained the English Bible for twenty years. It was a symbol of the labor and dedication of Tyndale, who had been burned at the stake for its sake.