THE PROTEVANGELION OF JAMES has descended to us in the original Greek, and was first published by Bibliander, at Basel, in 1552, in a Latin version by William Postell, who asserted that it was pub licly read in the Greek churches, and maintamed that it was a genuine work of the Apostle James, and intended to be placed at the head of St. Mark's Gospel. These commendations provoked the wrath of the learned Henry Stephen, who in sinuated that it was fabricated by Poste]] himself, whom lie calls a detestable monster' (Ddroduction au Traile a'e la CoiVormite des Illerveillts Anciennes avec les Modernes, 1566). It was reprinted in the Orthodoxographa of J. Herold, Basil 1555; and again .in the Orthodoxographa, vol. i. (1569), of Jacob Grvnmus. who entertained a very favourable opinion of it. Subsequent discoveries have proved that, notwithstanding the absurdity of Postell's high pretensions in favour of the authenticity of this gospel, Stephen's accusations'against him were all ill-founded. There had, even at the tirne when Stephen wrote, been already a Greek translation published by Nesinder, of which Stephen was not aware; it appeared among the Apocrypha annexed by Oporin to his edition of. Luther's Catechism, Basel 1364. It was republished by Fabricius (who divided it into chapters), and subsequently by Birch, Thilo [and Tischendorf ; a separate edition by C. A. Suckow appeared at Breslau in IS4o].
Thilo collated for his edition six Paris MSS., the oldest of which is of the loth century. From the circumstance of these MSS. containing a Greek calendar or martyrology, and from other internal evidences, there secms little doubt that this gospel was formerly read in tbe Greek Church (Mont faucon, Paldogr. Greet. p. 304). There are also extant versions of the Gospel of the Infancy in the Arabic and other languages of the Eastern churches, among which they appear to have pos sessed a high degree of authority.
Although this work is styled by Postell the Protevangelium, there is no MS. authority for this title, nor for tbe fact of its being ascribed to St. James the Apostle. It only appears that the author's name is James. The narrations of this gospel were known to Tertullian (Adv. Gnost. c. viii.), Origen (Com. in Hatt. p. 223), Gregory Nyssen (Oral. in diem Nat. Christ. ; Opp. vol. iii. p. 346), Epipbanius (Herr. 79, sec. 5), the author of the Imperfect IVork on Matt. ; Chrysost. (01v. tom. vi. p. 24), and many others among the an cients [Suckow, De arg. et incl. Pretty. Yatobi, Bresl. IS3o.]