File:Arthur and Fritz Kahn Collection 1889-1932 (19719498643).jpg

Title: Arthur and Fritz Kahn Collection 1889-1932
Identifier: arthurfritzkahn_02_reel02 (find matches)
Year: [1] (s)
Authors: Kahn, Arthur and Fritz
Subjects: Kahn, Fritz 1888-1968; Kahn, Arthur David 1850-1928; Natural history illustrators; Natural history
Publisher:
Contributing Library: Leo Baeck Institute Archives
Digitizing Sponsor: Leo Baeck Institute Archives

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B ♦ ♦ ♦ By NASH K. BURGER IBLES in new formats. in new translatlons. in new edi- tTons of old translations, are very mucli with us. Along with these are the hosts of Bible-related books—the com- mentaries and concordances, the historical. archaeological and theological interpretations. the atlases and inriexes, and theie aie Bible books for children, too «See Page 38). The L»aymen*s National Com- mittee, a non-sectarian Organi- zation of Protestants. Cathohcs and Jews, Sponsors of the an- nual observance of National Bible Week, which begins today, miist be more than pleased with the Support their project is re- ceiving froni Piiblishers* Row. Tn giving aid and encouragement to the obviously worthy cause of Bible Week, the piiblishers can hardly have been unaware of the mcreased religious inter- est of the post-war years and the book-buying poiential in the all- time high of more than 100,000.- 000 American ohiiroh and syna- gogue members in 1956. It might Oven be argued that the growing popiilarity of the Scriptures and related books <inasmuch as this is indicated by .sales figures) is at least as good evidence of a religious renaissance, of which we have heard so much, as are statistics of church menibership and the dollar value of new church huildings. In any event. the several trends together would seem sufficient proof of a bur- geoning not only in* religious intfresr but of religious ^*onvlc- tion. Fortunately, the quality of printing, scholarship and liter- ary skill revealed in many of these recent publications has been high. It would be hard to find, for exaniple, a more satis- fying examplfc of bookniaking tion of the King James Version, illustrated in color with fifty-six reproductions of notable paint- ings. mostly of the Renaissance. I HE production of this un- usually handsome and readable Bible involved not only the American publishors but a great Inumber of British firms: en- gravers, printers and binders in Holland: typesetters and paper- miakers in Scotland and a swarm ;of individual editors and experts In this country and abroad. The type face is unusually ;arge and clear, the paper of first quality and not too thin. le illustrations. carefuUy se- jcted, generally well reproduced ^nd ranging from Giotto to Ver- leer, have beauty and variety. is a large Bible, meant for imily o^BWPP^ise^ot for the »urist, and sells. in the regulär lition, for $25^ßrtainly a rea- »nable pric^ror such an elab- rately produced book. Up at Boston. Little, Brown Co. have bowed to the trend Mr. Bur(ßei\ a membcr of the )ok Review staff, freqnently utrts OH relif/iouft hooks in '.se payes. His Truth Shall Be Thy Shieid and Buckler' and "for the first time in the firm's 120-year history" will publish a Bible—not the whole Bible, true, but a handy and use- ful volume, anyway. "The Bible for Family Reading" is^ttWSfff^ Wlllii!^**tranW(kt«m "prepared" by Joseph Gaer and ehester C. McCown. The editors have done some modernization, rear- rangement and elimination of repetitions, genealogies, listings and superfluous words (15,000 "and's," for example). The text has been set as a regulär book. Books "Confraternity New Tes- tament" (95 Cents), just pub- lished in a first edition of 50,- OOO copies. This is a new Ro- man Catholic translation that will eventually include the en- tire Bible and is being carried out by the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. The trans- lators, outstanding scholars all, bcgan their work in the Thirties and have completed about half of the Old Testament in addi- tion to the New. It is quite likely that this version will take sparkle and individuality in his treatment that group transla- tions, for all their polish and authority. often lack. For sheer readability, his is probably the most successful modern render- ing. More signiflcant as evidence of serious religious interest even than the sale of single- volume Bibles is the popularity of such a monumental work as thet^^e-vol)^ BibH^THrolisneSl lay SSr^his fall has seen the
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niuatratioH from "Th( Heirkxytn Bible," ijubluthed hy Hawtkorn Bookn. Detail from "The Queen o-f Sheba Being Received by King Solomon/' from a fresco by Piero della Francesca, 1452-1466. the füll width of the page, and there is an introduction for each Biblical book. The price is $7^0, No "prepared" Bible ((J^SPf other prepared book) can take the place of the original, but such a volume as this can serve as introduction or even Sup- plement to Bible reading and study. Chief advantage of the Gaer-McCown version is that it gives a straight story line to the various books: but in the case of the New Testament gos- pels, which have been tele- scoi>ed into one account, this nieans that the reader is denied the pleasure and profit of com- paring the several narratives and points of view. As an example of the quality and permanence available these days in the paperback field, there is the Doubleday Image its place as the most important Roman Catholic translation in English. It is clear and smooth- ly phrased in a modern idiom. The Confraternity New Testa- ment is also available in F. J. Kenedy & Son's Anniversary Bible, at $19 96. a handsome, illustrated volume for family use. The Old Testament section is in the traditional Douay- Rheims translation. Sheed & Ward have done us all a favor in bringing out this year a fine edition of the excel- lent one-man Bible translation by the English scholar Ronald Knox. It is offered in a number of editiohs from ;7.50 to $25. Monsignor Knox, who brought to his task a sound knowledge of Hebrew, Greek and Latin as well as a rare and disUnctive literary style. achieves a appearance of Volume VI of this series, an event which brings the project just one vol- ume Short of completion. (The voUimes have not been published in numerjcal order.) Volume VI, which includes fifteen of the shorter Old Tes- tament books, like the earlier titles in the series, offers the King James and Revised Stand- ard translations in parallel columns.^ plus extensive exposi- tion and exegesis by outstand- ing Biblical scholars of this country and abroad. Although seemingly such a massive work would be of greatest interest and usefulness to the clergy and teachers, over half a mil- lion volumes of "The Interpret- er's Bible" have been sold at J8.75 each, since publication began in 1951. Obviously many copies nave gon3 to ^rass-roots readers. ' This year, as every year since its completion in 1952, the Re- vised Standard Version, pub- lished by Thomas Nelson & Sons, is certain to be a top seller among all books of any category. Basically a revision of the King James translation. the R. S. V. has now sold some 5,000,000 copies and is pushing up toward the mlUlon-a-year figure. This edition has out- raged some readers who resent any tampering with the ma- jestlc King James text. but scholars generally have called it the best modern translation in terms of clarity and ac- curacy. And next February a 1,900- page concordance to the R. S. V. is promised by the Messrs. Nel- son, to seil at $16.50. This will be one of the few books ever written by a machine (with some preliminary help from mere mortals. to be sure). As it has been told to us, the 750.- 000 words of the R. S. V. were typed on magnetic tape and fed into one of Remington Rand's Univac Computers. This friend of man. afler being given some Coaching, obligingly disgorged the entire concordance, the words arranged in 350.000 con- texts. in a matter of hours. The group of lady typists i with no more than the usual number of coffee breaks) had taken nine months just to put the words on tape. We consider the Univac concordance a good omen: it il- luatrates once again the har- mony that should prevail be- tween the Bible and science. I HIS give and take between science and rehgion is given a much fuller expression in Wer- ner Kellers "The Bible as His- tory," which William Morrow is bringing out later this month and will recelve füll attention in the Book Review. We have seen a copy and can report that it re-oreates the background of the Old and New Testaments in terms of science—from archae- ology to nuclear physics. There are maps and illustrations to help the reader find his way around in time and space. The price, $5.95. and worth it. Readers who want an even more intensive course in Scrip- tural geography will have their Chance with the "Atlas of the Bible," by L. H. Grollenberg, O. P., publisiied by Nelson at $15, later this month. There is also Rand McNally's elaborate 500-page "Bible Atlas," coming next month. It will seil for $8.95 after publication, $6.95 if you Order now. And Joseph F. Wagner is offering "The Catho- lic Encyclopedia," by Msgr. John SteinmuUer and Mother Kathryn Sullivan, R. S. C. J., a 2,000-page illustrated guide that .sells In a one-volume, indexed edition for $22. As an example of a populär illustrated re-telling of the Bibli story, there is the Joint Haw (Continued on Page A2) OCTOBCR 14. I<I56 \ \

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