The new Testament, which ... surpasses all books. Adriaen van Berghen, 1533

The Antwerp printer Adriaen van Berghen (act. 1500-42) was one of the first printers to enter the new market for modern religious books in the beginning of the sixteenth century, a large proportion of which were new translations of the Bible. The New Testament that van Berghen published in 1533 is illustrative of the period and of the social context in which he operated. Van Berghen found himself in trouble with the authorities on several occasions, usually for printing books that had not been approved or selling forbidden books. The 1533 edition, however, shows that Van Berghen made efforts not to fully lose sight of the reality of practical publishing, and to keep the most obviously proscribed or provocative elements out of his editions in order to avoid trouble with the authorities. In this endeavour he was only partially successful.