(Vol. iii., p. 443.)
Besides the copy of the above work mentioned by your correspondent J. H.
T., several others are known to exist in this country. Among them I may
mention one in the library of the Baptist College, Bristol. My own copy
was supplied by a London bookseller, who has likewise imported several
other copies from Holland, where it is by no means a scarce work.
The second illustrated edition was published twenty years after the
decease of Van Braght. The first edition, without engravings, now before
me, appeared in 1660, which was the edition used by Danvers. But Danvers
does not appear to have known its existence, when the first edition of
his treatise came out in 1673. The "large additions" of his second
edition in 1674, are chiefly made from the work of Van Braght.
The original portion of Van Braght's work is, however, confined to the
first part. The second part, _The Martyrology_, strictly so called, is
of much earlier date. Many single narratives appeared at the time, and
collections of these were early made. The earliest collection of
martyrdoms bears the date of 1542. This was enlarged in 1562, 1578,
1580, and 1595. This fact I give on the authority of Professor Mueller of
Amsterdam, from the _Jaarboekje voor de Doopsgezinde Gemeenten in de
Nederlanden, 1838 en 1839_, pp. 102, 103.
An edition, dated 1599, of these very rare books is now before me. It
has the following curious and affecting title:
"Dit Boeck wort genaemt: Het Offer des Heeren, Om het inhout van
sommige opgeofferde Kinderen Gods, de welcke voort gebrocht
hebben, wt den goeden schat haers herten, Belijdinghen,
Sentbrieuen ende Testamenten, de welcke sy met den monde beleden,
ende met den bloede bezeghelt hebben, &c. &c. Tot Harlinghen. By
my Peter Sebastiaenzoon, Int jaer ons Heeren MDXCIX."
It is a thick 12mo. of 229 folios, and contains the martyrdoms of
thirty-three persons (the first of which is Stephen), which were
subsequently embodied in the larger martyrologies. Each narrative is
followed by a versified version of it. A small book of hymns is added,
some of them composed by the martyrs; and the letters and confession of
one Joos de Tollenaer, who was put to death at Ghent in 1589.
In 1615, a large collection of these narratives appeared at Haarlem in a
thick 4to. volume. The compilers were Hans de Ries, Jaques Outerman, and
Joost Govertsoon, all eminent Mennonite ministers. Two editions followed
from the press of Zacharias Cornelis at Hoorn in 1617 and 1626, both in
4to., but under different editorship. The last edition was offensive to
the Haarlem editors, who therefore published a fourth at Haarlem in
1631. As its title is brief, I will give it from the copy in my library:
"Martelaers Spiegel der Werelose Christenen t' zedert A. D. 1524.
Joan, xv. 20. Matt. x. 28. Esai, li. 7. Joan xvi. 2. 1 Pet. iv.
19. [All quoted at length.] Gedrukt tot Haarlem Bij Hans
Passchiers van Wesbusch. In't Jaer onses Heeren, 1631."
This edition is in small folio. The title-page is from a copperplate,
and is adorned with eight small engravings, representing scenes of
suffering and persecution from scripture. The narratives of martyrs
extends from 1524 to 1624. It is this work which forms the basis of Van
Braght's. He added to it the whole of his first part, and also some
additional narratives in the second. To the best of his ability he
verified the whole.
These works are frequently referred to by Ottius in his _Annales
Anabaptistici_ under the titles "Martyrologium Harlemense" and
"Martyrologium Hornanum."
From a paper in the _Archivs fuer Kunde oesterreichischer
Geschichtsquellen_, I learn that a MS. exists in the City library of
Hamburgh, with the following title:
"Chronickel oder Denkbueechel darinnen mit kurtzen Begriffen, Was
sich vom 1524 Jar, Bis auff gegenwaertige Zeit, in der gemain
zuegetragen, vnd wie viel trewer Zeugen Jesu Christij die warheit
Gottes so riterlich mit irem bluet bezeugt. 1637."
The work appears chiefly confined to a history of the Moravian
Anabaptists: but from passages given by the writer, Herr Gregor Wolny,
it is evident that it contains many of the narratives given by Van
Braght. The earlier portion of the MS. was written previous to 1592,
when its writer or compiler died. Three continuators carried on the
narrations to 1654. The last date in it is June 7, 1654; when Daniel
Zwicker, in his own handwriting, records his settlement as pastor over a
Baptist church. Mention is made of this MS. by Ottius, and by Fischer in
his _Tauben-kobel_, p. 33., &c. For any additional particulars
respecting it, I should feel greatly obliged.
It does not appear to be known to your correspondent that a translation
of the second part of Van Braght's work has been commenced in this
country, of which the first volume was issued by the Hanserd Knollys
Society last year. A translation of the entire work appeared in 1837, in
Pennsylvania, U. S., for the use of the Mennonite churches, emigrants
from Holland and Germany to whom the language of their native land had
become a strange tongue.