The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1908-11-12
A RARE OLD BIBLE
ONE COPY PRINTED AT MAVENcE
IN THE YEAR 1850.
Now One Of the Greatest 8lbliosraph-
lc curiositles--Vulgate Prepared
in England In the Nelahbor-
hood Of the Year 668.

The first attempt at printing, at
Mayence, In 1850 was copy Of the
Vulgate, wood characters being used,
which contained only the principal
parts of the Old and New Testaments.
This is the so-called "Biblia Pauper-
um," one Of the rarest photographic
curiosities, a copy of which was bought
| by the duke of Devonshire in 1915,
who paid only e201 for It.
England occupies a prominent place
in the history of the Vulgate and in its
preservation, as, the purest text being
in Milan, Naples and in the southern
| provinces. Archbishop Theodore and
his companion, Hadrian, abbot of a
monastery near Naples, went to Eng
land in 66S taking with them some
Of these Bibles. Besides, just at that
| time Benedict Biscop and Ceolfrid,
| travelling between Rome and England,
brought in other pure Vulgate texts,
which were copied and reproduced in
! the monasteries of Woarmouth and
! larrow. not only for local use, but to
be spread by missionaries in foreign
countries. especially Germany, France
! and Switzerland, and, strange as It
may seem, even back to Italy. But
what is stranger still is that these
copies. known under the name of
Northumbrian texts. had been tran
scribed with such exactness that when
to be purer than the Italian copies,
which meanwhile had degenerated.
One of the attempts to revive the Vul.
gate was made by Charles the Great,
who intrusted the work to an Eng
lishman, Alcuin who finished It in
sol.
In the century after the invention OF
printing the circulation of faulty Bi-
bles assumed such proportions that the
necessity was felt of establishing an
official edition A handsome volume,
in 1890. took the name of the Sixtine
Bible, from SiXtus ", and had as
preface the famous Bull, "Aeternus
ille," establishing that this Bible be
considered as true. lawful. authentic
and unquestioned" Sixtus V. died al.
most Immediately after. and only two
years later Clement VIII. ordered that
every copy OF the Sixtine Bible be de.
stroyed, and published another called
the "Clementine." II seems that SiXtus
" had himself revised the work Of the
commission, hurting the feelings of the
members and offending the Jesuits.
who never rested until they obtained
the suppression OF the Sixtine Bible,
now one Of the rarest books in the
world.
Leo XIII. created the commission
de Re Biblica." presided over by
Cardinal Rampolla, for the study Of
the Scriptures, but II remained en
academic body, while Plus X. desired
TO transform II into an institution for
practical work. So, on April 80, 1907
Cardinal Rampolla wrote a letter TO
Dom Hildebrand de Hemptinne, abb
bot primate of the Benedictines, who
used to live in England, intrusting the
new revision of the Vulgate to them,
and straightway appointing Abbot Gas
luet as head of the committee. The
English abbot admirably fultills the
requirements of so responsible a po-
sition. To vast profound culture he
adds the temperament of great
worker and love for accuracy and
detail.-Pall Mall Magazine.