The Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Bible Collection

 1996-2006

7 September- 18 November, 2006

The year 2006 marks the tenth anniversary of the gift by Elizabeth Perkins Prothro of her magnificent collection of Bibles and related works to Bridwell Library.  In celebration of this landmark and in appreciation of the enduring support of Mrs. Prothro and the Prothro family,  Perkins School of Theology and Bridwell Library, the library announces an exhibition of the treasures contained in the Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Bible Collection to open September 7, 2006. The exhibition will include approximately sixty volumes, highlighting both the historical depth and breadth of this collection, and the beauty of the books themselves.

Mr. and Mrs. Charles N. Prothro of Wichita Falls presented this outstanding collection to Bridwell Library in 1996. At the time, the collection was one of the finest private collections of Bibles in existence.  The predominance of Bibles in the Prothro Collection reflects Mrs. Prothro’s lifelong love of Scripture, while the fineness and rarity of the volumes reveals a connoisseur’s appreciation of rare books.  The gift contained what were to become some of Bridwell's greatest treasures, among them a thirteenth-century manuscript Parisian Latin Bible, an early fifteenth-century Wycliffite English manuscript New Testament, a vellum leaf from the Gutenberg Bible (c. 1455), and a Coverdale Bible (1535).  The more than 400 volumes include virtually every monument of Bible printing, and include Bibles in nearly 100 languages, from eight centuries. More than fifteen years ago, these books provided the inspiration for the inaugural exhibition in the Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Galleries in 1990 – a gift commemorating the fiftieth wedding anniversary of Charles and Elizabeth Prothro in 1988.

The selection to be exhibited in the Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Galleries highlights artistically and historically significant volumes from the Middle Ages through the Twentieth Century, chosen for their ability to illustrate the interplay between Scripture, society, scholarship and art. 

The exhibition itself will be free and open to the public from 7 September through 18 November, 2006.