Recent Lectures Representing the Society, Professor David Daniell spoke recently on Tyndale and his work to three historic bodies at well-attended meetings. For almost four hundred years, Lambeth Palace Library has served the churches, and the public at large, on behalf of the Archbishop of Canterbury. One of the world‘s historic libraries, it holds archives and manuscripts from mediaeval times, and books from incunabula onward. It offers unique facilities for study. In 2003, the collection went online, immediately bringing millions of hits. The Friends of Lambeth Library were established in 1964 as a means of extending support. Their Annual General Meeting is an occasion when the Friends fill the Great Hall. It is customarily followed by a major lecture, always printed in the Annual Review. In 2003, Archbishop Rowan Williams, as President of the Friends, took the chair for the first time and welcomed Professor Daniell who spoke on ’Access to the Bible in English: the Sixteenth- Century Revolution’. The Dissenting Deputies form the oldest civil rights association in the country. Since 1732 they have fought for the rights of Dissenters. Specifically, two Deputies are elected from the Presbyterian, Baptist and Congregationalist churches within ten miles of the cities of Westminster and London. For over two hundred years the Dissenting Deputies did great, and necessary, work in righting national wrongs and fighting civil penalties, such as denial of access to higher education. They have traditionally advised the Sovereign, to whom they even now have the right of access. They still have a special role in royal ceremonies, and stand fifth in order of precedence on such occasions, even before the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul’s Cathedral. Formerly a great campaigning body, their function was largely taken over by the Free Church Federal Council, now absorbed into ‘Churches Together’. They remain an annual lecture society, with a determination to preserve the memory of the very great contribution of Dissenters to the political and economic structure of the country. The Council of Christians and Jews was formed in the Second World War with one aim, to promote understanding between the two faiths. In the light of the horrors revealed in the 1940s, Christians and Jews came together to strive to banish anti-semitism and prejudice. With patrons at the highest level, from Her Majesty the Queen, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, the Archbishop of Thyateria and Great Britain, the Free Churches’ Moderator and the Chief Rabbi as part of a long and impressive list, they have fifty-five branches over the United Kingdom, in most major towns. Their work in Britain is mainly educational. The Council is also active in striving to bring understanding to both sides in the conflict between Israel and Palestine. Professor Daniell spoke to the annual general meeting of the branch in St. Albans. Academic Achievement The Society congratulates Antoinina Bevan Zlatar, a speaker at the 2003 Geneva Conference, on obtaining her doctorate with the highest honours in the Faculty of Letters at the University of Geneva, Switzerland in February 2004. Her thesis entitled ‘The Polemical Protestant Dialogue in Elizabethan England’ is to be published as a book. Dr Zlatar has also been appointed to a post in the Department of English in the University of Zurich and is currently working on and editing, together with Ms Eleanor Merchant of Queen Mary College, University of London, UK, the Proceedings of the 3rd Tyndale Conference, Geneva, Switzerland 2003 ‘Not for Burning: The Marian Exiles in 16th century Europe’. Her Geneva Conference paper ‘Protestant versus Protestant: Anthony Gilby’s ‘A pleasaunt Dialogue betweene a Souldior of Barwicke and an English Chaplaine’ and the Vestments Controversy of 1563-67’ formed part of her doctoral thesis. Lichfield Conference The Lichfield Conference will take place from Friday 26 May to Sunday 28 May 2006. Prof. Anne Hudson will give a paper on The Premature Reformation, Rev. Dr R Werrell on The Theology of William Tyndale, and Prof. David Daniell on Bible Translation. There will be a call for papers nearer the time. A guided tour of Lichfield is also planned to include the sites connected with Samuel Johnson, David Garrick, Ann Sewell, Erasmus Darwin (Charles’ grandfather), Elias Ashmole (whose collection formed the basis for the exhibits in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford) who were all born or lived in Lichfield. Ralph Werrell, Chair Organising Committee, June 2004.. Publications Committee Report This Committee met on 5 March 2004 at Hertford College, Oxford. A plan and format for the proposed new ‘William Tyndale’ booklet were discussed and it was agreed that a design and specification should now be produced prior to making approaches for possible funding. Meetings have taken place with the British Library to investigate the possible publication of Deborah Pollard’s ‘Tyndale Concordance’ and costings and availability analysis are now being explored. Valerie Offord reported progress regarding the suggested publication of the ‘Proceedings of the Geneva Tyndale Conference 2003’. The project has begun to gather considerable interest and support. Proposals for the future development of the Tyndale Society website were also discussed and a summary has been put to the Trustees for further consideration. The Committee will next meet in September 2004. Peter Clifford, Chairman, May 2004 Stationers’ Prize 2004 The annual Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers’ prize for 2004 has been awarded to Prof. Thomas Festa, Haverford College, Pennsylvania, USA. His prize-winning essay Milton’s ‘Christian Talmud’ which discusses Milton’s use of Jewish writing in his Christian theology was published in the Tyndale Society’s academic journal Reformation volume 8 2003. Stationers’ Hall, London from a 19th century engraving.