David Daniell (born 17 February 1929) is an English literary scholar and editor of specialist books, mainly about William Tyndale and his translations of the Bible. He was formerly Professor of English at University College London and has published a number of studies of the plays of Shakespeare. He also founded the Tyndale Society. He coined the widely repeated phrase explaining the importance of the sixteenth century English Bible translator to the greatest playwright in the English language: "No Tyndale, No Shakespeare."
He was the son of the Revd Eric Daniell and his wife Betty and was educated at the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Darlington. Later, he studied in Oxford (St Catherine's College) and graduated as Bachelor of Arts in 1952; and Master of Arts in 1954, having studied English Language and Literature. In 1954 he gained a B.A. degree in Theology. He read English and later Theology at Oxford. He studied 1954-1955 at the University of Tübingen and there he received his postgraduate degree. In 1972 he received his Ph.D. from the University of London, for his Shakespeare studies. In the year 1979, Daniell accompanied the Royal Shakespeare Company on a six-week tour of European cities.
In 1980 and 1982 David Daniell published two volumes of The Best Short Stories of John Buchan and in 1989 William Tyndale's New Testament and 1992 William Tyndale's Old Testament.
In 1994 he published his biography of William Tyndale and one year later (January 1995) the Tyndale Society was founded at a meeting in the British Library. David Daniell was the first chairman and his successor was Mary Clow. Today, the Tyndale Society has about hundred members worldwide.
1998 he published a Shakespeare edition of Julius Caesar.His book about the history of the English Bible (The Bible in English: History and Influence) appeared in 2003.
In 1992, David Daniell was appointed to a Professor of English at University College London. Since 1994 he got emeritus status. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Oxford College, Hertford and of the Oxford College St Catherine's. He is an honorary member of the Senior Common Room at Magdalen College, Oxford.
He has had over 50 radio and tv broadcasts about his work. He married Dorothy Mary Wells in 1956 and they have two sons; his son Christopher has two sons too.
In his writings about William Tyndale he supports some theses. These statements are often quoted by other authors.
Tyndale was independent of Luther's translation of the bible.
But, Tyndale used what he finds good in Luther.
In the Matthew Bible was printed, from the Book of Joshua to The Chronicles of the Kings of Juda. The Second Book, Tyndale's translation. But this thesis is not new, e.g. A. S. Herbert, the Bible cataloguer, says of the Matthew Bible: "this version, which welds together the best work of Tyndale and Coverdale, is generally considered to be the real primary version of our English Bible" and Sir Frederic G. Kenyon (in 1909) was of a similar opinion to David Daniell.
About 80 per cent (exact 83 per cent) of the New Testament and 76 per cent of the Old Testament (in the King James Bible) is Tyndale's translation. He takes over this thesis from John Nielson and Royal Skousen.
Buchan, John; Daniell, David (ed.): The Best Short Stories of John Buchan; edited with introduction and notes. (Volume 1.) London: Michael Joseph, 1980
Buchan, John; Daniell, David (ed.): The Best Short Stories of John Buchan; edited with introduction and notes. Volume II. London: Michael Joseph, 1982
Tyndale, William; Daniell, David (ed.): Tyndale's New Testament: Translated from the Greek by William Tyndale in 1534. in a modern-spelling edition; with an introduction by David Daniell. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1989
Tyndale, William; Daniell, David (ed.): Tyndale's Old Testament: being the Pentateuch of 1530, Joshua to 2. Chronicles of 1537 and Jonah, translated by William Tyndale, in a modern-spelling edition; with an introduction by David Daniell. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1992
Daniell, David: William Tyndale: a biography. New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 1994
Shakespeare, William; Daniell, David (ed.): Julius Caesar. (The Arden Shakespeare.) Walton-on-Thames: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1998
Tyndale, William; Daniell, David (ed.): The Obedience of a Christian Man; edited and with an introduction and notes. London: Penguin Classics, 2000
Tyndale, William; Daniell, David (ed.): (William Tyndale.) Selected Writings; edited and with an introduction and notes. Manchester: Carcanet Press, 2003
Daniell, David: The Bible in English: History and Influence. New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 2003
