Collection Spotlight-Bibles Part III
GreekA collection of international Bibles would not be complete without representation from the Greeks. The one chosen for this list is "The New Testament in the Original Greek. The Text Revised by Brooke Foss Wescott D.D. and Fenton John Anthony Hort D.D. London : Macmillan and Co., Ltd. New York :The Macmillan Co., 1896."
HawaiianThis New Testament is one in a volume and does not have a title page and may well have been a few books bound together, as was common practice in general and has many instances within this institution. The information card indicates that it includes Romans, Corinthians, Peter, John, Jude, Revelations, published in 1832. Joshua was printed in 1831 and Psalms in 1832. All were printed in Oahu by Mission Press. Like so many books printed before mass production effected the publishing world, this book was printed on sturdy rag paper and shows significantly less damage than if it had been produced fifty years later. Hawaii, then called the Sandwich Islands, was one of the earliest destinations for missionaries. Before their arrival in the early 19th century, the "Austronesian" dialect the natives use(d) did not have its own alphabet, so as was common practice among the missionaries, they created a phonetic representation with the Roman alphabet.
HebrewLike Greek, we couldn't have an international list without a sample of a Hebrew Bible. The edition below is Numbers 1 and 2 of the Pentateuch, from the edition of Everado van der Hooght, New York : Whiting & Watson, 1815.
HindustaniThe word hindustani encompasses the languages spoken on the Indian sub-continent: Hindi and Urdu. (Source: Wikipedia). This New Testament does not use the Devanāgarī script, but rather the phonetical in Roman alphabet, which would have been particularly useful for missionaries teaching native Indians. The Bible Press, Auxiliary for the Bible Society printed this edition in Calcutta in 1841.
JapaneseThis Japanese representative has no English pointers as to its publisher, company or year. From its condition and style of printing, it would be safe to guess it was produced in the mid 20th century, anywhere between 1930 and 1955.
