Another type of publication which targeted the Christian public and likewise conveyed an early date for Matthew were Bible Knowledge and Bible History Handbooks.
This first one was a Catholic publication, written in 1927 by the archbishop in Milwaukee, which largely drew from a work in German.
B. IN PARTICULAR. 1. St. Matthew, also called Levi, son of Alpheus, was, before his call to the Apostleship, a sub-collector of taxes for the Romans on Lake Tiberias. He wrote his Gospel about A. D. 41/42, chiefly for the Palestinian Jews converted to Christianity; hence he wrote in Aramaic (Chaldean), the language of the country.
Sebastian G. Messmer, ed., Outlines of Bible Knowledge, 2nd ed. (Breslau, Germany: Herder, 1927), 124–125.
A similar publication from a pastor with the Methodist Episcopal Church, written in 1890 and using a Q & A format, was for the benefit of young adults, .
14. When did St. Matthew write his Gospel ?
Ans. It was probably written about A. D. 42.
L. F. Young, Studies in Bible and Church History and Doctrines: Prepared for the Use of Epworth Leagues (Cincinnati, OH: Cranston and Stowe, 1890), 37.
And here is an excerpt from an earlier (1822) history of the Bible:
