Thursday, December 21, 2006

Order Wasserman for your library

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I'm pleased to be able to say that we now have the URL whereby one can order Tommy Wasserman's investigation of the Epistle of Jude. Please forward the URL to your librarian.

The Epistle of Jude: Its Text and Transmission
ISBN-10 91-22-02159-0
ISBN-13 978-91-22-02159-9

Here is the summary

The study treats the textual tradition of the Epistle of Jude. The nucleus of the study is an exhaustive critical apparatus presenting the evidence of 560 Greek MSS, including dozens of lectionaries. The major part of these textual witnesses have not received the attention they deserve. Now, for the first time, all these MSS have been collated in a complete book of the NT. The complete collation has brought many new readings to light, some of which were only known through ancient versions, and previously known and important readings have gained additional support.

The reconstructed text differs from the edition from the Institute for New Testament Textual Research in Münster, Editio Critica Maior (ECM), at five points:

v. 5: κυριος (ECM: ιησους)
v. 13: απαφριζοντα (ECM: επαφριζοντα)
v. 15: παντας τους ασεβεις (ECM: πασαν ψυχην)
v. 18: οτι[2] (ECM: omit)
v. 18: του (ECM: omit)

Appended to the apparatus is an errata list to the ECM of Jude, and another list of differences between the two editions that accounts for the cases where the interpretation of the manuscript evidence differs between the editions. These lists, along with the table of contents, can be downloaded from here.

An accompanying textual commentary explains the rationale behind the various text-critical decisions in over 100 passages. An innovation is the employment of a new rating system of a more descriptive nature than counterparts. In a treatment of the literary and text-critical relationship between 2 Peter and Jude, it is argued that the Epistle of Jude has literary priority. Further, the textual traditions of the two writings show that scribal harmonization between the parallel accounts occurs relatively infrequently. Two significant witnesses, P72 and Codex Vaticanus (B 03), lack such harmonization altogether.

The history of the text is also the history of readers and their world, as disclosed through the palaeographic and textual evidence. Every manuscript has a unique story to tell, about the ancient copyists, owners and users. In particular, the two earliest papyrus witnesses to Jude, P72 and P78 (ca. 300 C.E.), are studied in detail. For the first time, plates of these early papyri and the recently registered uncial 0316 are published with complete transcriptions. In addition, plates of two significant minuscules are published with short descriptions.

The book can be ordered here.

8 comments

  1. Does anyone know the approximate price in U.S. dollars?
    Thanks.

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  2. Many thanks to Dr. Wasserman for this important contribution. I'd like to see a post from him about how much time, effort, and expense went into collating the MSS and organizing the data for presentation in an apparatus. I hope others will be able to follow his example with other parts of the New Testament.

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  3. PJW: "Would 123 USD be correct?"

    No, definitely not. I tested the bookshop and indicated an address in the US. The total price including shipping is 645 Swedish crowns, which is about 90 USD. It is a bit complicated because the website is not entirely translated into English, but there are English instructions (click on British flag). If anyone needs help, just send me a message. I have tried to get the retailer to create English pages on the website, but that is apparently too expensive...

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  4. Anonymous said...

    "I'd like to see a post from him about how much time, effort, and expense went into collating the MSS and organizing the data for presentation in an apparatus."

    Much time, three years of writing the book, but the book contains much more than the apparatus. Perhaps the collations took half that time.

    Much effort. Prof. emeritus Birger Gerhardsson in my seminary was right when he said that it takes a "thick bottom" ("sittfläsk").

    Not so much expense, since I went to Münster on a number of occasions, and ordered only few microfilms. Moreover, about 200 microfilms with Jude were available in a Swedish library, to which they had been donated by the late scholar C.A. Albin who wrote a dissertation on Jude in the early sixties. However, the actual printing of the book has meant considerable expenses, but I hope that it will break even by the time I retire.

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  5. Tommy Wasserman said...

    "I tested the bookshop and indicated an address in the US. The total price including shipping is 645 Swedish crowns, which is about 90 USD."

    After a second thought I actually think something is wrong with the website. It has just opened for foreign orders so it may have some initial problems, because the actual price for the book is 220 SEK which is just about 30 USD, then apparently they have added the rest (appr. 60 USD) for shipping which must be wrong (seemingly shippingfee is added twice). I have contacted them to see what is wrong. Hopefully the price should be about 60 USD in the end, which should be a more reasonable price for the book (about 400 pages including 32 pp with plates).

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  6. "However, the actual printing of the book has meant considerable expenses, but I hope that it will break even by the time I retire."

    Did you consider print-on-demand? You can get a book to market for under $1000 using places like LightningSource.

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  7. Crevo:

    "Did you consider print-on-demand?"

    No, since the monograph is part of a series (ConBNT), which presupposes offset printing. Moreover, 400 copies are required directly for the university and for the publisher for distribution. Print-on-demand is an option if the first edition is sold out, but that is not likely to happen in this case...

    ReplyDelete