▼

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Historic editions of the Greek New Testament online

by 38
Over on Facebook it was observed that Brill was offering a collection of historic editions of the New Testament for sale.
The Critical Editions of the New Testament Online
The Greek Text, Versions, and Transcriptions of Manuscripts
...
This series, earlier published in a microfiche collection by IDC Publishers, makes available for the first time in a single online collection the principal critical editions, lists of variant readings and collections of manuscript transcriptions and collations from the late seventeenth to the early twentieth century. In addition, a number of the most useful editions of the ancient versions and of ancillary materials have been included. It begins with the first large collection, compiled by John Mill and published in 1707, and ends with von Soden’s huge work of 1902-13.
The most surprising thing was the price:


As Brill notes, this was previously published (before Brill’s acquisition of IDC Publishers) in a microfiche collection - contained in 853 fiche (Brill uses the same brochure):


But most of them are available for free somewhere on the internet, so I thought it would be helpful to see how many links we could collect here (with help from commenters): (I’ll start with abbreviated titles):

Greek New Testament

Erasmus (1516) (on later editions see Krans): Basel (e-rara): images & pdf; cspmt (pdf); images CSNTM

Complutensian Polyglot (vol five = NT) (1520?): cspmt (pdf)

Aldine (1518): cspmt (pdf)

Colines (1534): cspmt (pdf)

Stephanus (1551): images and PDFs at e-rara
Stephanus (1550): images CSNTM; Bibles online (nice images but fiddly orientation)

Beza: for links to the different editions (and other works of Beza) go here (Jan Krans).
Beza (1588): good individual images at CSNTM
Beza (1598): cspmt (pdf)

Elzevir (1624): cspmt (pdf)

Elzevir (1633): cspmt (pdf)

Fell (1675): hathitrust

Mill (1707) good individual images at CSNTM and PDF at Google Books
Mill (rev. by Kuster) (1710) [Google Books] (BSB images & pdf) (SLUB: nice images and pdf) [HT Jan Krans]
Mill (2nd ed. Kuster) (1723) Google Books (BSB images & pdf)

Richard Bentley (1720), Proposals for Printing and his specimen of Rev 22 are at Google Books.

J. A. Bengel (1734) at archive.org (google books) (NB. 1763 Apparatus criticus also at archive.org)

J.J. Wettstein, Prolegomena In Novum Testamentum: Cum Quibusdam Characterum Graecorum Et Latinorum In Libris Manuscriptis Exemplis (1730) [pdf at archive.org] (1764 rev by Semler at Google Books [images & pdf @ mdz])

J.J. Wettstein (1751-2), vol one (1751) at Marburg: images & pdf; vol two (1752) at Marburg: images & pdf [HT Jan Krans]; vol one at archive.org; vols 1(?) & 2 at Stanford/Google Books; hathitrust

J.J. Griesbach, Synopsis Evangeliorum Matthaei, Marci et Lucae. Textum Graecum ad fidem codicum versionum et patrum emendavit et lectionis varietatem adiecit Io. Iac. Griesbach (Halle: Io. Iac. Curt., 1776)  (Synopsis = NT vol 1) [Google Books]
J.J. Griesbach,  Libri historici novi testamenti graece: Epistolas Omnes Et Apocalypsin complectens. Novum Testamentum Graece Volumen II (Halle: Curt, 1775) [GB]
J.J. Greisbach, Novum Testamentum Graece. Textum ad fidem codicum versionum et patrum emendavit et lectionis varietatem adiecit Io. Iac. Griesbach (Halle: Io. Iac. Curt., 1777): vol 1 Evangelia et Acta Apostolorum (= Gospels & Acts) [Google Books]

J.J. Griesbach, Symbolae Criticae ad supplendas et corrigendas variarum N.T. lectionum collectiones (Halle) vol. 1 (1785) [Google Books]; vol. 2 (1793) [Google Books]

J.J. Griesbach, Novum Testamentum Graece. Textum ad fidem codicum versionum et patrum recensuit et lectionis varietatem adiecit D. Io. Iac. Griesbach (Halle: Io. Iac. Curt. & London: P. Elmsly, 1796, 2nd edition): vol 1 Evangelia (Google Books); vol. 2: Acta et Epistolas Apostolorum cum Apocalypsi (Halle: Io. Iac. Curtii Haeredes & Londno: Payne & MacKinlay, 1806, 2nd edition) (Google Books) (BSB images & pdf)
Griesbach, Synopsis (1797, 2nd ed.) [Google Books]
J.J. Griesbach, Commentarius Criticus in Textum Graecum Novi Testamenti (Halle) vol. 1 (1798) & vol. 2 (1811) [bound together] [Google Books]
J.J. Griesbach, Synopsis evangeliorum Matthaei, Marci et Lucae una cum lis Joannis pericopis quae omnino cum caeterorum evangelistarum narrationibus conferendae sunt / textum recensuit et selectam lectionis varletatem adjecit D. Jo. Jac. Griesbach. (Halle: Libraria Curtiana, 1809, third edition). [hathitrust]

(Griesbach NT vol 1, 1809 at archive.org; vol. 2, 1809)
(Griesbach NT vol 1, 1818 and vol 2, 1818)
J.J. Griesbach, Synopsis evangeliorum Matthaei Marci et Lucae: una com iis Joannis pericopis quae omnino cum ... (Halle: Officina Libraria Curtiana, 1822, fourth edition). [archive.org]
J.J. Griesbach,  Novum Testamentum Graece. Textum ad fidem codicum versionum et patrum recensuit et lectionis varietatem adiecit D. Io. Iac. Griesbach (rev. D. Schulz; Berlin: F. Laue, 1827, 3rd edition): vol 1 IV Evangelia  [Google Books] [second volume never published]

Harwood, The New Testament (1776; 2 vols) [GoogleBooks] [Biblioteca Nacional de España: good images and dowloadable PDFs]
[also issuu.com/9853355/docs/harwood_vol1
issuu.com/9853355/docs/harwood_vol2 ]

Matthaei (1782-1788) vol. 11: Matthew (1788); vol. 12: Mark (1788); vol 10: John (1786); vol. 1: Acts (1782); vol 5: Catholic Epistles (1782); vol. 3: 1&2 Corinthians (1783); vol. 6: Gal, Eph & Phil (1784); vol. 4: Hebrews & Col (1784); vol. 7: 1&2 Thess and Timothy);  vol.8: Apocalypse (1785).
Matthaei, Novum Testamentum Graece (vol. 1, 1803 [Google Books]; vol. 2, 1804 & vol. 3, 1087 [Google Books]) 

F.C. Alter, Novum Testamentum ad codicem vindobonensem graece expressum (Vienna)
vol. 1 (1787) [Google Books]; vol. 2 (1786) [Google Books] [HT Jan Krans]

J.M.A. Scholz, Novum Testamentum Graece. Textum ad fidem Testium Criticorum recensuit, Lectionum Familias subjecit, 2 vols. (Leipzig, 1830; 1836). Biblioteca Nacional de España (both vols)

K. Lachmann, Novum Testamentum Graece (Berlin: G. Reimer, 1831) [archive.org/Google Books]
Lachmann-Buttmann (vol. 1, 1842 [Google Books]; vol. 2, 1850 [Google Books]) (hathitrust)

Tregelles (1857) good individual images at CSNTM     Tyndale House
BNE Tregelles (http://bdh.bne.es/bnesearch/detalle/bdh0000007427 (all volumes)

Tischendorf (NTG, vol. 1, 1869 [Google Books]; vol. 2, 1872 [Google Books]; Prolegomena (C.R. Gregory, 1890), Part 1 [archive] and Part 2 [archive])
Westcott & Hort (1881) text [GB]; Intro [GB] (US edition with forward by P. Schaff, 1881: archive)
von Soden (1902-13) good individual images of four volumes at CSNTM: one, two, three, four. Also pdfs at cspmt (vol one, two)

Nestle 1899 2nd edition (pdf)

Catalogues

Major Sites

Worth checking

Tags: , , ,

38 comments

  1. Pastor Jack5/14/2015 5:43 pm

    Fantastic! This was unimaginable 3-4 decades ago!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jan Krans-Plaisier5/14/2015 6:38 pm

    The GB link for Matthaei NTG 2 1804 actually contains both NTG 2 1804 and NTG 3 1807.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Maurice A. Robinson5/14/2015 7:08 pm

    One seriously has to wonder how many copies Brill expects to sell at US $11,490 / €8640, especially with freely downloadable PDFs of most of those resources already available. I suspect even the major libraries will not pony up for that particular volume.

    But why should anyone want to stop with von Soden when later works such as Legg, Swanson, IGNTP, ECM, Text und Textwert, etc. offer far more extensive and often better and more accurate data?

    Of course, if Brill wants to send me a review copy . . . :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jan Krans-Plaisier5/14/2015 10:45 pm

    1. You could mention http://www.zvdd.de/ and https://www.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de/ as well.
    2. Brill took over IDC at a time when there still seemed to be substantial marketing value in the microfiches (and for some areas there still might be); for NTTC the situation seems to be a text-book example of the law of diminishing returns.
    3. Older editions are mostly not important for the data on manuscripts, but all the more so for the – all too necessary – historical perspective on our discipline.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Peter M. Head5/15/2015 9:31 am

      Thanks Jan,
      Re 1. I have added those sites at the bottom of the page as resources to check.
      Re 2. The law of diminishing returns is presumably balanced by the law of the long tail.
      Re 3. Completely agree (some 19th Cent editions remain useful for data purposes).

      Delete
    2. Peter M. Head5/15/2015 9:36 am

      Occasionally older editions raise questions about real data. E.g. a) Tischendorf thought that Wettstein had seen some passages in C 04 better than he did; b) the old debate about Alexandrinus being clearer in the 16th & 17th centuries (e.g. at 1 Tim 3.16); c) editions which cited evidence which is no longer regularly cited (e.g. marginal readings in LXX manuscript/s); d) the mystery of one of Stephanus' witnesses (may be a lost manuscript). Top of the head comments here. Unverified, lacking detail, and unchecked (like 17th cent collations).

      Delete
    3. Jan Krans-Plaisier5/15/2015 10:12 am

      Another example: Wettstein's min. 88 of the gospels. It represents a manuscript that Camerarius "often cites in his notes on the four gospels" (Wettstein), but that is now lost; Wettstein only knew is from Camerarius's notes. The current min. 88 is another manuscript.
      Yet another example: Codex Boreelianus (F 09): Wettstein used a collation provided to him; when the manuscript resurfaced in the 19th century, some (mote) leaves were lost. And so Tischendorf partly cites F 09 from Wettstein's apparatus.

      Delete
    4. Peter M. Head5/15/2015 11:50 am

      Jan, you should collect these for an article.

      Delete
  5. Unknown5/14/2015 11:38 pm

    From Erasmus (¹) to Matthaei, ϛ was used for στ ; since Lachmann – what about Alter ? –, we find στ.


    1. § 2 l. 2 : μνηϛευθήσης, v. 18.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Maurice A. Robinson5/15/2015 2:26 pm

    There remain some gems in the older works, particularly in relation to MSS no longer extant or not currently available. Example: for the Pericope Adulterae, Matthaei's (reasonably complete) collations are all that remain available for GA MSS 238, 241, 242, 252, 258.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Jan Krans-Plaisier5/16/2015 9:01 am

    The Harwood link does not lead to an online version, but only to a bibliographical record.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Peter M. Head5/16/2015 9:38 am

      Thanks Jan. Quite right. That is why it says GB not Google Books. I was wondering whether it might become available there or actually be available in some countries, but I couldn't get access.

      Delete
    2. Jan Krans-Plaisier5/16/2015 9:55 am

      Hope springs eternally … My impression in such cases though is that it is not a matter of planning, but simply of taking over catalogue entries from wherever that may be. Be that as it may, the Harwood volume is not even available to "them Americanos".

      Delete
  8. Jan Krans-Plaisier5/16/2015 9:05 am

    The Alter link is not the correct one; it should be https://books.google.com/books?id=jXQeAQAAMAAJ for the second volume (1786) and https://books.google.com/books?id=9BhIAAAAcAAJ for the first (1787).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Peter M. Head5/16/2015 9:45 am

      Thanks Jan. Again GB was just a holding note for not a complete version. I have fixed that up now with these two. Great.

      Delete
  9. Jan Krans-Plaisier5/16/2015 9:10 am

    Griesbach Symbolae criticae 1793 is the second volume; the first is of 1785 and can be found at GB: https://books.google.com/books?id=E3VAAAAAcAAJ

    ReplyDelete
  10. Jan Krans-Plaisier5/16/2015 9:18 am

    Griesbach Commentarius criticus 1798 is the first volume; the second is of 1811 and is bound together with the first in the copy the GB link leads to.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Unknown5/16/2015 11:16 am

    ϛ : Alter too.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Jan Krans-Plaisier5/16/2015 11:24 am

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Jan Krans-Plaisier5/16/2015 11:31 am

    A much better copy of the Mill/Küster 1710 edition is found at SLUB Dresden: http://digital.slub-dresden.de/id321907175, though it has a different title page (but the type for the rest is identical).

    ReplyDelete
  14. James Snapp Jr5/17/2015 6:03 pm

    I have a collection of Greek New Testaments -- some old, some not so old -- and other text-critical resources at
    http://www.curtisvillechristianchurch.org/NTTCLibrary.htm .

    ReplyDelete
  15. Jan Krans-Plaisier5/21/2015 5:14 pm

    For a complete list of Beza's editions it might be useful to refer to my blogpost on it (http://vuntblog.blogspot.nl/2012/11/bezas-new-testament-editions-online.html).

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous6/01/2015 9:02 pm

    Westcott and Hort (1881) is available at the Internet Archive (as are other things);
    https://archive.org/details/newtestamentinor01west

    ReplyDelete
  17. Ostapenko Sergej11/14/2015 1:04 pm

    Harwood's Greek New Testament
    http://issuu.com/9853355/docs/harwood_vol1
    http://issuu.com/9853355/docs/harwood_vol2

    ReplyDelete
  18. Ostapenko Sergej11/14/2015 1:06 pm

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Jan Krans-Plaisier11/14/2015 3:58 pm

    For Harwood's two volumes, better go via the owner of the digital copy, the Biblioteca Nacional de España: http://bdh-rd.bne.es/viewer.vm?id=0000013536; you can then download them as PDFs.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Jan Krans-Plaisier11/15/2015 3:11 pm

    BNE also has the following:
    Tregelles (http://bdh.bne.es/bnesearch/detalle/bdh0000007427 (all volumes).

    ReplyDelete
  21. Ostapenko Sergej7/22/2016 8:19 am

    Fell's Greek New Testament (1675) https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.31175031505954;view=1up;seq=708

    ReplyDelete
  22. Jan Krans-Plaisier8/19/2016 7:33 am

    - I spotted a Greisbach instead of Griesbach.
    - Semler 1764 is not a revision of Wettstein's 1730 Prolegomena, but an annotated and expanded version of Wettstein's own revision of his 1730 Prolegomena for his 1751-1752 edition.
    - Bowyer 1763 is also online: http://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/de/dms/load/toc/?PID=PPN685180328.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous8/12/2022 12:06 pm

    Peter,

    Thanks for this information!

    1. In 1827, using Mill’s work (1707 edition,it seems) Bishop Lloyd at Oxford issued a small pocket GNT, with good punctuation and paragraphing and with useful cross-references. This edition was quickly and readily used by very many serious students and readers, from academics to workers. It seems to have been discontinued only in 1901.

    2. In 1833, 1850, 1857 and 1880, James Scholefield (Professor of Greek at Cambridge and a distinguished Classicist), although himself believing that both TR and KJV needed some light revision (he published a booklet on the matter), issued pocket editions of a Greek/English NT : the 1880 edition had good cross-references from Scrivener’s Cambridge paragraph Bible1873. He, too, wished to put an affordable GNT into the hands of indigent students and poor workers! His work does not appear to have been republished after 1880.

    3. Westcott and Hort published their first edition in May 1881, and their second in December 1881. In 1895, they published a third edition, a pocket edition, apparently designed for students and containing introduction, rejected readings, suspect readings, OT references and allusions, etc.. This does not seem to have been republished; but it , also, was used by the poor and indigent.

    There were other pocket editions. Such editions were prepared by good and cowardly men, for the express benefit of every individual serious enough to have an affordable and convenient GNT. We owe them a great debt. Where are our similar modern pocket editions?

    Alexander Thomson. (“Anonymous” seems to be only available option today!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alexander Thomson8/12/2022 1:56 pm

      Correction : never “cowardly” but “scholarly” !! Who invented this auto-correct ?!

      Delete
  24. Matthew Fisher5/29/2023 5:25 pm

    Updated link for Stephanus (1550) at CSNTM: https://printedbooks.csntm.org/PrintedBook/Group/RobertusStephanusNovumTestamentum1550

    Incidentally, I was surprised to discover that the supposed text of Stephanus 1550 that was reprinted in The Englishman's Greek New Testament must be some other text. As compared to CSNTM's Stephanus 1550, the EGNT has numerous obvious differences beginning in Matthew 1:2. I wonder what text actually appears in the EGNT -- which can be found here:
    https://archive.org/details/theenglishmansgreeknewtestament1896/page/n8/mode/1up

    ReplyDelete