Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-06-19

gress are some rare and valuable He.
brew editions of the Old Testament
The Oldest of these was printed at
Bologna by Abraham di Tintori in
1482 and contains only the book of
Moses, or the Pentateuch. The next
Oldest edition of the Pentateuch in
the library was printed at Lisbon by
J. Chalfon in 1491. the yec, before Co.
lumbus set sail for the new world.
There is an edition of the minor
prophets printed in 1885 and of the
major prophets OF uncertain date. but
most probably the same year. There
is rabbinical Bible printed at Ven.
ice In 1917 and six editions of the Old
Testament printed in the years be.
tween 1925 and 1866. The whole
forms an exceedingly valuable colIec.
ton for Jewish scholars.
\; X + y
The rare Bibles In Washington are
not confined to Government in
stitutions. At the Washington
Cathedral Library there is an in
creasingly valuable collection of
treasured religious books, including
an original edition of the Coverdale
Bible known as the "Breetches Bible, -
due to a curious reading in the book
of Genesis, which credits Adam and
Eve with wearing "breetches." In
latter editions this was changed to
skins"
There is also a combination of
the King James version and. the
Episcopal Book Of Common PRAYER
printed at Cambridge University in
1860 and used before the Restor-
alton. This was presented to the
Cathedral Library by Miss Ainslie
carter last year. 1t is illustrated
with copper engravings of remark
able workmanship, depicting such
scenes as David with his harp, Solo
mon on his throne and Adam and
Eve naming the animals in Eden.
The Cathedral Library also is
building up a collection of old Amer
lean family Bibles. which often were
very ornately printed and illustrated
These are treasured because of their
personal associations. some of them
containing on their fly leaves names
OF distinguished parishioners of the
past century. The day of the ornate,
heavy family Bible, which had almost
the same significance as piece of
furniture in the old fashioned home
and which reposed on the parlor
table from generation to generation,
probably has gone forever. The new
family Bible is light, cheap and de-
signed to be read. The old Bibles
were illustrated with ponderous steel
'engravings and contained voluminous
notes of interest only to students of
thanlnpU
trated with photographs. The notes
are few and carefully chosen:
This change In the dress of the
Bible, officials at the Cathedral he
lieve. does not indicate any lessening
of the religious spirit of the people.
The new Bibles are intended for
everyday use by every member of
the family. and when they are. worn
out it does not greatly drain the
bank account to buy new one.
They are like bricks in the structure
of life. The old Bibles were like
corner stones.
no degeneration in the dress of the
Scriptures. Within quite recent
years there have been editions which
Guido in ornateness and costliness
anything except the ancient manu-
scripts with their gold leaf illumi-
nation. The Cathedral Library con-
tains what is probably the most
beautiful edition ever issued from
the printing press. which was print
ed as late as 1873. This is ire
French edition of the Four Gospels
printed by De Bouseet. Each Of the
gospels fills an enormous volume of
several hundred pages. Illustrated
with steel engravings, which rank
with the highest art ever achieved
by the printing craftsman. Pra";i-
cally every incident in Matthew. Mark,
Luke and John is illustrated with a
full-page engraving. Many OF the
drawings were made especially for
this edition. But even this edition
falls short of the remarkable gold
ornamented manuscript. the work of
thirteenth century monks, at the LII
brary of Congress.
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