Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1910-11-29
Making Bibles
By
Frederic
J. Haskin

tient perseverance required to re-
duce dialect to printed page could only
belong to one whose ingenuity is inspired
by jealous devotion. For this reason
the work of translating the Bible into
heather languages is chiefly performed
by missionaries, who, in addition to their
other labors, generally undertake volun-
tarily this arduous task. Their work is
carefully revised by experts employed for
that purpose at the main publishing
houses The credit for the real work of
the translation, however, must be al
most without exception awarded to mis-
sionaries. Usually the New Testament
psalms or some other portion is publish
ed first, and later the whole Bible For
merly most of the printing was done in
New York or London. Now great modern
publishing plants are sustained exclusive
ly for Bible productions in Calcutta, Con-
stantinople. Tokyo, Shanghai and Vienna,
with many smaller printing houses in
places Of sufficient commercial develop
ment .--
l. t.. .-,s r.. - -. s-t- -.v ,,.
The wonderful PROFESS of modern
mechanism is nowhere more apparent
than in the Bible publishing industry. A
demonstration of this was the publication
or the Caxton Memorial Bible as a part
or the memorial exercises held in Eng
A-dA IL.
the first English printer. This special
edition was printed at the University
Press, Cambridge, and bound in London
distance of So miles. The finished vol
umes OF the edition were in the hands of
the recipients within is hours after the
hrst portion of the copy was given to the
printer. This remarkable feat of publ-
cation was deemed a fitting memorial to
the man who so painstakingly set type
x,,,HI
A specimen Of the Caxton Memorial
edition now rests in the British museum,
beside copy OF that first English Bible
published in 1880. Both were printed
rom metal type set by hand, as were all
the earlier Bibles. But here the resem-
olance In the process of publication
ceases. The process of plate-making has
now almost entirely superseded the old
fashioned type in Bible publication. This
reduction of labor has reduced the cost
OF production to minimum and Bibles
are correspondingly low-priced. Last
year the American Bible society was able
to reduce the price of a cloth-bound Tes-
lament from to cents a copy and to
sell complete Bible for II cents. The
British society furnish a Testament for
''tuppence" and Bible for sixpence.
While the majority of the Bibles of the
world are produced by the American and
British societies there are numerous
other publishers both in America and
Europe engaged exclusively in Bible pro-
ductions. These furnish fine books for
the subscription trade for gifts and spe-
cial usage. The Bible societies issue only
the scriptures. All teachers Bibles and
other issues in which maps, history and
material useful to the student are COM
bined with the Bible, are issued by pri-
waite publishers. Some of these have built
up enormous trades. especially in illus
trated Bibles which might be said to forrE
a class by themselves. During the past
year in America Bibles have been print
ed in Il languages. In some of these
only single volume has been issued,
but the plates are ready to supply any
reasonable demand on short notice The
British and American societies each pub
lish Bibles in quite a number of languages
which the other does not duplicate Thus
the expense of translation and revision
in any language is made as broadly
useful as possible.
During the past year the American
Bible society issued 2,S26S31 volumes and
the British society 6,620,O24, while Ger
many, Russia, France and the other Eu-
ropean countries combined report the is
suance of 1881 900. In addition to these
are the Bibles issued by private pub
fishers in the various countries. which
are said to amount to over 10000 900. This
places the total number of Bibles issued
during the year 1910 at nearly 100000
volumes, or one copy for every 100 per-
sons on the globe