Book Burning and the Free Market

The efficiency of the free market is sometimes pretty amazing.

In 1529, William Tyndale, the visionary reformer and eventual martyr, had recently published his English New Testament -- the first printed portion of the Bible in the English language. It was printed in Worms on the continent without any references to the author or place of publication because of the certain resistance it would face from the English church and state, which were deeply intertwined. Approximately 3,000 copies were printed in the first run and smuggled into England.

Predictably, the Archbishop of London, Cuthbert Tunstall (has there ever been an archbishop of London with a more appropriate name?), sought to suppress the new English language testaments. On a trip to Antwerp, the supposed source of the offending works, he met with Augustus Packington, a cloth merchant known to have contacts with the distributors of the English bibles. Tunstall explained that he intended to burn all the copies of Tyndale's testament that he could get his hands on. Packington promptly agreed to supply a great many copies at the right price, which Tunstall was willing to pay. Packington then went to his friend Tyndale and said he had a buyer for all unsold copies of the English testament that were available. Though the two men knew Tunstall's intentions, Tyndale said, "Well, I am the gladder, for these two benefits shall come thereof: I shall get money of him for these books, to bring myself out of debt, and the whole world shall cry out upon the burning of God's word."

So the deal was struck — "the bishop had the books, Packington had the thanks, and Tyndale had the money." Tunstall even bought the type to prevent Tyndale from reprinting, but Tyndale used the money to finance a new and improved edition of his work!