PREFACE.

IN submitting the following Catalogue of the Library of the British and Foreign Bible Society to public notice, it will not be out of place to give a brief sketch of the origin and progress of the Library, of the principal objects of interest which it at present contains, and of the system upon which the Catalogue now published has been framed.

The existence of the Library may be said to date from the foundation of the Society itself, in 1804. As it was the object of the Society to disseminate the Holy Scriptures in the various languages of the world, its founders very soon perceived the great advantage that might accrue from having a collection of the several existing versions to aid them in their operations. To purchase all these, however, would have been too great a drain upon the funds of the infant Society. Accordingly, on the 17th of December, 1804, it was resolved by the Committee that an appeal should be made through the press to the community at large, "soliciting donations of Bibles, Testaments, or portions of the Scriptures, in the ancient or modern languages," for the use of the Society's agents and members. The first to respond to this appeal was Granville Sharp, Esq.-a man distinguished equally by his piety, philanthropy, and extensive learning-who, on the 3rd of January, 1805, presented the Society with between thirty and forty volumes, consisting for the most part of versions of the Holy Scriptures in different languages. The example set by this illustrious man, who was at the same time the first Chairman of the Society, and the first benefactor to its Library, has been since extensively followed by other friends of the Society, who, from time to time, have contributed versions of the Bible in various languages, works on Biblical criticism, grammars, and dictionaries.

The Library now consists of about five thousand volumes of printed books and manuscripts, of which by far the greater part are presents, while a few have been purchased, and the rest are copies of versions published by the Society.

Among the names of the donors the following deserve especial mention:-William Blair, Esq., who had already presented several works at different times, in 1822 added to the Library a valuable collection of Bibles and Testaments in different languages, besides other works, to the number of about 200 volumes. The Rev. C. C. Chambers, the Rev. Mr. Clemens, the Rev. Dr. Adam Clarke, the Rev. Josiah Pratt, the Rev. Joseph Hughes, and the Rev. Dr. Cracknell, were all among the Society's early benefactors. The Rev. John Noble Coleman, in one donation, gave fifty-two distinct works, comprising versions of the Scriptures and philological treatises. From the Rev. Dr. E. Henderson the Society received several Icelandic and other rare works; also a collection of Hebrew Bibles, &c. To James Thomson, Esq., it is indebted for works in the Mexican and Peruvian languages; to the Rev. John Jones, for works in the Celtic languages; to the Directors of the Royal Library at Munich, for some valuable duplicates from that collection; to the Royal Asiatic Society, the Asiatic Society of Paris, the American Bible Society, the Church Missionary Society, the London Missionary Society, the Baptist Missionary Society, and the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, for copies of their transactions or other publications. The Society also thankfully acknowledges the donations of Richard Sainthill, Esq.; Dr. Steinkopff; Thomas Hankey, Esq.; Lord Bexley; George Stokes, Esq.; Samuel Bagster, Esq.; William Huttmann, Esq.; M. Klaproth; Mrs. Fawcett, relict of James Fawcett, Esq.; the Bishop of Puebla; Dr. Mora, of Mexico; the Baron Silvestre de Sacy; B. Blinkhorn, Esq., of Mexico; Josiah Forster, Esq.; the Rev. W. Burgess; Mrs. Risdon; and the Rev. John Owen, of Thrussington. Among the more recent benefactors to the Library, the thanks of the Society are especially due to Edward Dalton, Esq., for twenty-nine books and MSS., all of them valuable acquisitions; and to Prince Louis Lucien Bonaparte, for several works, among which are to be particularly noticed, the very rare Basque Testament, printed at Rochelle in 1571, and three versions of the Gospel of St. Matthew, recently executed at the expense of the Prince himself. Two of these versions are in different dialects of the Basque language, and the third in Lowland Scotch.

Of the two former only twelve copies, and of the latter only eighteen,
have been printed.

Amongst the manuscript treasures which the Library contains will
be found a valuable collection of Biblical and Liturgical Works in
Ethiopic, and for the most part on vellum; an Icelandic translation of the
Prophets and Maccabees, by Gisle Jonson, Bishop of Skalholt, 1574-75;
a Latin Bible, on vellum, circa 1300; a Latin Genesis, with a com-
mentary, on vellum, written early in the twelfth century; also a col-
lection of documents in Spanish and Mexican, relating to the early
history of Mexico.

In the collection of printed books, will be found a copy of each of the
four great Polyglotts, namely, the Complutensian Polyglott, the Antwerp
Polyglott, Le Jay's Polyglott, and Walton's Polyglott. It comprises
also a copy of Bomberg's Hebrew Bible, Venice, 1525-28; the first five
editions of Erasmus's Greek and Latin Testament, 1516, 1518-19, 1522,
1527, and 1535; various early Latin Bibles, commencing with that of
Jenson, Venice, 1479; the German Bible, printed by Koburger, at
Nuremberg, in 1483; Luther's Bible of 1567, illuminated; also Luther's
New Testament of 1524, 1533, and 1535, the last printed on vellum ;
the English Bibles of 1537, 1540, 1541, 1549, 1551, 1553, 1568, 1611,
&c., the New Testament by Tyndale, Antwerp, Matthew Crom.,
1538, which most probably belonged to Henry VIII., since it has the
arms of that sovereign on the cover; the Bohemian Bible, 1596; the
Dutch or Flemish, 1534; the Danish, 1588-89; the French, by Le Fèvre
d'Etaples, 1534; Olivetan's, 1535, and Calvin's, 1556; the Icelandic
Bible, by Bishop Thorlakson, 1584, with the Bishop's own MS. notes;
also the Icelandic Bible of 1643, and the Testament of 1540; Eliot's
Indian Bible of 1685-80; the Irish Bible of 1690, and the Testament of
1602; the Italian Bible of 1562, and the Testament of 1538; the
Spanish Bible, by C. De Reyna, of 1569, and of 1602, by C. De
Valera; also the Testament of 1556, by J. Perez; the Welsh Bible
of 1588; and the Windish of 1584.

Others might be enumerated, but these will suffice to convey an idea
of the nature and value of the earlier editions of the Bible in the
Library. Altogether it contains versions of the Holy Scriptures, either
in whole or in part, in more than 150 different languages. In Commen-

taries and Biblical criticism the Library is not so rich as could be desired.
The same may be said of its Liturgical works, and the department of
general theology. With grammars, dictionaries, and philological works
generally, it is respectably furnished; but here also many deficiencies
might be noticed. The other volumes in the Library consist of a few
biographical, historical, and geographical works; together with Reports
of religious and other societies, and a collection of pamphlets, contro-
versial and otherwise, relating to the objects and operations of the
British and Foreign Bible Society.

Such are briefly the history and character of the Library, of which a
Catalogue is now submitted to the public.

In preparing it, the compiler thought that it would be more useful to
adopt the alphabetical than the classed form of catalogue, since there
was evidently little that called for classification, the Library being
principally Biblical and Philological. All works with an author's name
are therefore catalogued under such author's name. Authors writing
under initials or pseudonymes are catalogued under such initials or
pseudonymes, the real name being supplied, when known to the com-
piler, between brackets, and a cross-reference given from it in its own
alphabetical place in the Catalogue. All anonymous works are cata-
logued under the prominent subject of the work ;-as, for instance, the
subject of a biography or commentary; a country or place of which
there is any history or description, &c. But here, also, the name of the
author is supplied, whenever it could be ascertained by the compiler,
and a cross-reference given, as before. Cross-references are also made
from authors commented upon by others, to the names of the commen-
tators; also from editors, translators, &c., to the names of the authors
edited or translated; also from the subject of a biography to the name
of the biographer.

In cataloguing the Scriptures, the plan of the British Museum
has been for the most part adopted. All the complete Bibles are first
catalogued as follows:-

1st. Polyglotts with the original texts-Diglotts being reckoned as
Polyglotts.

* This arrangement applies only to the Printed Books. The MS. Bibles, and
all portions of the same, are arranged according to their languages, in alphabetical
order.