Health experts in Birmingham and Guangzhou set up research institute

The King James Bible, first published in 1611, has been found to have been translated by a Frenchman - according to three sources newly discovered by a University of Birmingham researcher. Although the King James Bible went on to become the most popular translation throughout the English-speaking world, the circumstances surrounding its production have always been mysterious. New research has shed light on the translators who worked on the first edition, with King James commissioning a renowned French scholar, Isaac Casaubon, who was visiting London at the time, to work on the final revision of the translation. Dr Nicholas Hardy , University of Birmingham said: 'The sources show us that the translation was not just an English affair. Casaubon was a Frenchman who had only just arrived in London, and could barely speak or write English. 'Instead, he corresponded and conversed with the other translators in Latin, the common language of scholars in Europe at the time.' The King James Bible was drafted by more than forty translators, divided into 'companies' working on separate sections of the Bible. The companies then sent delegates to London to revise the whole translation before it was printed.