, one of the translators of the Bible in the reign of James I. was
, one of the translators of the Bible
in the reign of James I. was son of William Bois, rector of
West-Stowe, near St. Edmundsbury, in Suffolk, and born
at Nettlestead in that county, Jan. 3, 1560. He was taught
the first rudiments of learning by his father; and his capacity was such, that at the age of five years he read the
Bible in Hebrew, and before he was six could write it in
an elegant hand. He went afterwards to Hadley school,
and at fourteen was admitted of St. John’s college, Cambridge, where he distinguished himself by his skill in the
Greek; and such was his diligence that we are told he
would go to the university library in summer, at four in
the morning, and remain till eight in the evening without
any intermission. Happening to have the small-pox when,
he was elected fellow, to preserve his seniority, he caused
himself to be carried, wrapped up in blankets, to be admitted. He applied himself for some time to the study of
medicine, but fancying himself affected with every disease
he read of, he quitted that science. June 21, 1583, he
was ordained deacon, and next day, by virtue of a dispensation, priest. He was ten years chief Greek lecturer in
his college, and read every day. He voluntarily read a
Greek lecture for some years, at four in the morning, in
liis own chamber, which was frequented by many of the
fellows. On the death of his father, he succeeded him in
the rectory of West Stowe; but his mother going to live
with her brother, he resigned that preferment, though he
might have kept it with his fellowship. At the age of
thirty-six, he married the daughter of Mr. Holt, rector of
Boxworth, in Cambridgeshire, whom he succeeded in that
living, 1596. On quitting the university, the college gave
him one hundred pounds. His young wife, who was bequeathed to him with the living, which was an advowson,
proving a bad economist, and himself being wholly immersed in his studies, he soon became so much in debt,
that he was forced to sell his choice collection of books to
a prodigious disadvantage. The loss of his library afflicted
him so much, that he thought of quitting his native country. He was, however, soon reconciled to his wife, and
he even continued to leave all domestic affairs to her management. He entered into an agreement with twelve of
the neighbouring clergy, to meet every “Friday at one of
their houses by turns, to give an account of their studies.
He usually kept some young scholar in his house, to instruct his own children, and the poorer sort of the town,
as well as several gentlemen’s children, who were boarded
with him. When a new translation of the Bible was, by
James I. directed to be made, Mr. Bois was elected one of
the Cambridge translators. He performed not only his
own, but also the part assigned to another (part of the Apocrypha), with great reputation, though with little profit:
for he had no allowance but his commons. The king indeed nominated him one of the fellows of his new college
at Chelsea, but he never derived any benefit, as the
scheme was not executed. He was also one of the six who
met at Stationers-hall to revise the whole translation of the
Bible, which task they went through in nine months, having each from the company of stationers during that time
thirty shillings a week. He afterwards assisted sir Henry
Saville in publishing the works of St. Chrysostom, and received a present of one copy of the book, for many years
labour spent upon it: which however was owing to the
death of sir Henry Saville, who intended to have made
him fellow of Eton. In 1615, Dr. Lancelot Andrews, bishop of Ely, bestowed on him, unasked, a prebend in his
church. He died 1643, in the 84th year af his age; leaving a great many manuscripts behind him, particularly a
collation of the text of the Gospels and Acts. When he
was a young student at Cambridge, he received from the
learned Dr. Whitaker these three rules, for avoiding those
distempers which usually attend a sedentary life, to which
he constantly adhered: the first was, to study always standing; the second, never to study in a window; the third,
never to go to bed with his feet cold . The work mentioned above, which Wolfius says is
” Liber infrequentissimus etrarissime occurrens,“owing to very few copies having been printed, was entitled
” Veteris interpretis cum
Beza aliisque recentioribus Collatio in Quatuor Evangeliis et Apostolorum Actis, autore Johanne Boisio, Eccl.
Eliensis Canonico, opus auspiciis rev. Praesulis Lancelot!,
Winton. Episc. caeptum et perfectum," Lond. 1655,
12mo.