The Thomas J. Harrison Bible Collection

Title

The Thomas J. Harrison Bible Collection

Description

Highlights of the Bibles collected by Thomas J. Harrison (1885–1963).

Source

Bridwell Library Special Collections

Publisher

SMU Libraries

Date

Originally exhibited February 1–May 4, 2018

Collection Items

00121
First Greek New Testament printed in America based on the 1707 Oxford edition by John Mill (1645–1707).

BRMS 1
Example of one-volume portable Bibles popular in the thirteenth century. Includes decorated initials and filigree pen work in the margins.

06118
Single leaf of the Latin Bible printed by Gutenberg in 1454–1455. The text of the present leaf, consisting of Exodus 9:12-11:1, has been rubricated in red and blue.

06134
Early complete printed Bible in Latin Vulgate. Initial letters for books and chapters, folio numbers, and marginal notes have been added by hand.

06139
Portable, affordable Bible produced in 1497. This edition usually included elements that could be inserted by hand after printing such as tables or indexes. Large manuscript initial spaces were not filled in at the beginning of the books and…

00001
Second edition of Erasmus' Latin alongside original Greek text of the New Testament including Erasmus' annotations. Includes woodcut borders, head and tail pieces, and initials.

BRMS 59
Scroll 12 (yod-bet) of thirteen from the Kaifeng synagogue in China, established 1653.

00006
Early revised edition of the "Great Bible" with some correction and revision. The title page woodcut depicts King Henry VIII presenting the Bible to ecclesiastical and royal figures.

00018
First edition of the New Testament from the "Geneva Bible", printed by William Whittingham (ca. 1524-1579) in Geneva during Roman Catholic Queen Mary I's reign in which she condemned English Bibles. This Bible was portable and included legible…

00017
After Queen Elizabeth I's accession in 1558, a new English translation of the Bible was needed to replace the controversial "Geneva Bible". This Bible, the "Bishop's Bible" includes engraved portraits of the queen and her court.

00023
English Catholics translated this New Testament from Vulgate into English durng the reign of Queen Elizabeth. This translation gives traditional readings priority over philological questions. The New Testament alone was published in 1582 and the Old…

00033-00034
English Catholics translated this New Testament from Vulgate into English durng the reign of Queen Elizabeth. This translation gives traditional readings priority over philological questions. The New Testament alone was published in 1582 and the Old…

00037
King James I appointed a committee to create an authoritative English Bible to replace the "Geneva" and "Bishops'" Bibles. Illustrations and ornamental letters are included throughout.

00038
Second issue of the first edition of the King James Bible, sometimes called the "she" Bible because of the reading of Ruth III, 15: "she went into the citie."

00046/A
Smaller version of the King James Bible, intended for use in home and for visiting church. This copy contains inscriptions showing that it was in use by the family for at least 138 years.

00044/A
Quarto version of the King James New Testament with "sombre" binding, meaning bindings that dispense with the ostentatious use of gold, usually as an expression of mourning.

00095
The King James Version of the Bible was protected and only allowed to be printed by the king's printer or the official printers of Cambridge and Oxford. Baskerville became the printer at Cambridge in 1758. Includes tables of measurements and guides…

00088
First European-language Bible published in the Americas. Reprinted from the Halle (34th) edition of Luther's version, with Esdras, books 3 and 4, and Maccabees, book 3, supplied from the Berlenburg Bible.

00089
Second edition of German Bibles printed by the Saur family which was the first Bible printed on American-made paper.

00090
Third Bible printed by the Saur family which was also the first Bible printed with American-made type from the Saur type foundry in Germantown. This edition is very similar to the other two Saur editions with some edits and a new preface.

00100
First complete American Bible printed in English. Known as the "Aitken Bible".

00107
First Catholic Bible printed in the United States and first Catholic Bible printed in any language in the Western Hemisphere.

00111
Isaiah Thomas (1749–1831) printed the first illustrated Bible in America using the King James Version for the text.

00120
First Greek New Testament printed in America based on the 1707 Oxford edition by John Mill (1645–1707).

00127-00130
Robert Aitken's daughter, Jane Aitken (1764–1832) published the first English translation of the Bible by an American, Charles Thomson (1729–1824).
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