The Rev. Dr. Roland H. Bainton, professor emeritus of
church history at the Yale Divinity School, died yesterday
at his Divinity School apartment in New Haven.
 He was 89 years old.
Dr. Bainton, a member of the divinity faculty for
 42 years, was an authority and a prolific writer
on the Reformation and the life of Martin Luther.
He was the author of 32 books, 13 of them published
 since his retirement as Titus Street Professor
 of Ecclesiastical History in 1962. His autobiography
 is scheduled for publication this spring.
Dr. Bainton continued writing and lecturing in the
United States and abroad until last fall, when poor
health also forced the cancellation of one of his most
 popular performances, his annual recitation of ''Luther's
Christmas Sermon'' at the Divinity School's Christmas
celebration. A virtuoso performer in the lecture hall, he
often drew standing ovations.
White-haired and slender, Dr. Bainton was a familiar
figure on the Yale campus and the streets of New Haven,
 riding a 10-speed bicycle from his apartment to his office
until he was injured in a minor accident last fall.


                             Book Sold 1.2 Million Copies
His best-known work was ''Here I Stand: A Life of
 Martin Luther,'' published by Abingdon-Cokesbury
 in 1950 and winner of a $7,500 prize from the publisher.
It has sold 1.2 million copies.
Dr. Bainton was born in Ikleston, England, and brought
 to the United States when he was 2. He grew up in Colfax,
Wash., and graduated from Whitman College in Walla Walla,
Wash., in 1914. He received a Bachelor of Divinity degree
 from Yale in 1917 and a doctorate there in 1921. He was
ordained a Congregational minister in 1927.
Dr. Bainton joined the Yale Divinity School in 1920 and
was named Titus Street Professor of Ecclesiastical History
in 1936.
He is survived by three daughters, Olive Robison of Missoula,
Mont.; Joyce Peck of Chapel Hill, N.C., and Ruth Lunt of
Rochester; two sons, Herbert Bainton of Woodbridge, Conn.,
and Dr. Cedric Bainton of San Francisco; a sister, Hilda King
of Kennett Square, Va., 17 grandchildren and four
 great- grandchildren.
Funeral services will be private,but a memorial service
 will be held at 2 P.M. on March 4 in the Marquand Chapel
 at Yale.
photo of the Rev. Dr. Roland H. Bainton