Highlights of the Exhibition
The Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Bible Collection
at
Bridwell Library
1996-2006
September 7-November 18, 2006  

Rheims New Testament

The First Editions of the Roman Catholic Douay-Rheims Bible

The New Testament of Jesus Christ. Rheims: John Fogny, 1582.

The Holie Bible Faithfully Translated into English out of the Authentical Latin. 2 vols. Douay: Laurence Kellam, 1609-10.

Preparation of an English translation of the Bible appropriate for Roman Catholic consumption began in Douay during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. There a group of English scholars in exile translated directly from the Vulgate into English, including often controversial notes. Political disruption in Douay led the translation team to flee to Rheims.  There, they completed the New Testament in 1582. Both financial hardship and the 1592 arrival of the Clementine version of the Vulgate slowed translation and production of the Old Testament. The translation team returned to Douay in 1593. Their translation is sometimes slavishly loyal to the language of the Vulgate, creating “Latinisms” which render the passage nearly incomprehensible. The entire English Douay-Rheims Bible appeared in 1635. This Bible provided the foundation for the standard version for English-speaking Catholics until the last century. 

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