ALEXANDER GARDNER, MDCCCLXXXIX. PREFACE. THIS work is not a scholastic work, nor is it intended for scholastic readers. It is meant for plain people who have no knowledge of either Hebrew or Greek. Many questions, therefore, are ignored, which scholastic persons may think should, in a review of English versions of the Bible, be brought to the front; and some trivialities are introduced which scholastic persons may think should have been excluded. The special subject to which most space in this volume is devoted, is that to which in many published works on English versions of the Bible least space is given; namely, the differentiations of successive versions, and the literary peculiarities that in each translation may be supposed most readily to attract the notice of common English readers. It is attempted in this way to shew how dissatisfaction with one version led to the publication of another; and there is set forth as much of the history of each version as will indicate the persistent labour that for five hundred years has been spent on the perfection of the English Bible. One thing that calls for explanation, if not apology, is that while the book is professedly non-scholastic it contains a considerable number of Latin words and even Latin sentences. It will be found, however, that in many cases the Latin words are self-explanatory, and serve to shew the source from which particular expressions in the several English versions were derived. In all cases, too, the Latin quotations are of simple construction, and will be understood and appreciated by many readers who do not reckon themselves classical scholars. And if in any instance the Latin interpolation should prove a stumbling-block, it may be passed over without causing a breach in the continuity of the narrative. It will be observed that at the head of each chapter there is a note of the special editions from which examples of the a M54637 |