NELSON BIBLE AND RELIGIOUS BOOK COLLECTION: A Treatise (Final Revision November 6, 2022)

By William W. Nelson

The work before you is the product of a collector of Bibles and religious texts. But as one swiftly discovers upon reading his treatise, William W. Nelson was more than just a collector: he was a self-taught theologian, an intellectual, a meticulous archivist. In what has become the product of an over twenty-year-long past-time, this final revision provides close readings and notable eccentricities of Nelson’s lifetime collection of Bibles and religious works. It is often said that every written work remains unfinished. And this book is no different — there is always more that could have been said, more archaic texts that could have been discovered, and more revelations deduced. But this book might just be as comprehensive as a book of its kind can get.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jul 6, 2023
• ISBN: 9798823009317

William W. Nelson

Bill Nelson The first in his family to attend college, Bill Nelson graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in History, Literature, and Philosophy. Though he considered a life in the ministry, he ultimately decided on a career as a corporate attorney, while simultaneously developing expertise in various other interests, including Biblical Studies. Bill became a respected authority on the history of the Bible, and also an expert on many of the different Bibles that have been published since the advent of the printing press. Over his life he amassed an extensive collection of Bibles, including the “Geneva Bible” from 1580, the King James Bible from 1613, several Latin Vulgate Bibles, and many more. Bill’s lectures at The Woodlands Methodist Church on the history of the Bible were well-attended and enjoyed.

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© 2023 William W. Nelson. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

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ISBN: 979-8-8230-0930-0 (sc)

ISBN: 979-8-8230-0929-4 (hc)

ISBN: 979-8-8230-0931-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023910946

Published by AuthorHouse 07/05/2023

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Circa 1529 Luther Leaf

1535-1536 Tyndale Leaf

1541 Latin Vulgate Bible

1549 Leaf from the Matthew-Tyndale Bible

1556 Dietenberger German Bible

M. D. LVI Latin Bible

1580 Geneva Bible

1583 Quadrins Historiques De La Bible

1586 French Bible

M D LXXXVII Latin Bible

1598 Geneva Bible

1599 Geneva Bible

Ancient Torah Scroll – 1⁶th Century A.D.

1611 King James Bible Leaf

1613 King James Bible

1647 Latin Vulgate Bible (Clementine Revision)

Icones Biblicae (1648)

1703 History of the Old and New Testament

1717 The Holy Bible (Vinegar Bible)

1750 Bible (Latin)

1757 Latin Vulgate Bible (Clementine Revision)

1772 Baskerville Bible

1786 Book of Common Prayer

Leaf from the 1791 Isaac Collins Bible

1833 Scott’s Bible (Volume 1)

The English Hexapla (1841)

Noah Webster Bible (1841)

The English Version of the Polyglott Bible (1844)

The Little Pilgrim’s Progress (1845)

The Holy Bible (1848)

The Holy Bible (1859)

The Holy Bible (1863)

The Holy Bible (1876)

King James Bible (1883)

King James Bible (1887)

Pronouncing Holy Bible Concordance (1895)

1906 Rembrandt Bible

1911 Red Letter New Testament (King James Version)

King James Bible (1947)

The Holy Bible, With Illustrations from the Vatican Library (1995)

THE HOLY BIBLE (King James Version-1999)

Endnotes

List of Illustrations

Figure 1:   Representative woodcuts from the Old Testament in our 1541 Latin Bible

Figure 2:   First Page of the New Testament in the 1541 Latin Bible

Figure 3:   Representative woodcuts from the New Testament in our 1541 Latin Bible

Figure 4:   Woodcuts of Adam and Eve in our 1556 German Bible

Figure 5:   Joseph falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife (Genesis 39) in our 1556 German Bible

Figure 6:   Title page in our M. D. LVI Latin Bible

Figure 7:   Representative woodcuts from the Old Testament in our M. D. LVI Latin Bible

Figure 8:   Representative woodcuts from the New Testament in our M. D. LVI Latin Bible

Figure 9:   The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in our M. D. LVI Latin Bible

Figure 10:   Title page that precedes the New Testament in our 1580 Geneva Bible

Figure 11:   Representative woodcuts from the Old Testament in our 1586 French Bible

Figure 12:   Representative woodcuts from the New Testament in our 1586 French Bible

Figure 13:   A woodcut (King David & Bathsheba) in Regum II, Captv XI in our M D LXXXVII Latin Bible

Figure 14:   Title page in our M D LXXXVII Latin Bible

Figure 15:   A woodcut of Daniel’s three friends in a furnace in the Book of Daniel in our M D LXXXVII Latin Bible

Figure 16:   Representative woodcuts from the Book of Exodus in our M D LXXXVII Latin Bible

Figure 17:   Representative woodcuts from the New Testament in our M D LXXXVII Latin Bible

Figure 18:   I. John Chap. V. 20 of our 1598 and 1580 Geneva Bibles, respectively

Figure 19:   The breeches language of Genesis 3:7 in our 1599 Geneva Bible

Figure 20:   Map of The Situation of the Garden of Eden in the Book of Genesis in our 1599 Geneva Bible

Figure 21:   The red Sea in the Book of Exodus in our 1599 Geneva Bible

Figure 22:   Map of Canaan in the Book of Joshua in our 1599 Geneva Bible

Figure 23:   Title page that precedes the New Testament in our 1599 Geneva Bible

Figure 24:   Map of the Holy Land, The description of the holy Land…, in our 1599 Geneva Bible

Figure 25:   The front page of the Leaf from the second edition of the folio 1611 King James Bible

Figure 26:   Title page in our 1613 King James Bible

Figure 27:   Ruth 3:15 in our 1613 King James Bible (and he went into the citie.)

Figure 28:   The woodcut of Adam and Eve in The Genealogies by John Speed in our 1613 King James Bible

Figure 29:   A portion of a page in The Genealogies by John Speed in our 1613 King James Bible showing the lineage of CHRIST By Lawe from Joseph & By nature from MARIE

Figure 30:   Map of Canaan in our 1613 King James Bible

Figure 31:   New Testament title page in our 1613 King James Bible

Figure 32:   The Colophon in our 1613 King James Bible

Figure 33:   Title page in our 1647 Clementine Latin Vulgate Bible

Figure 34:   Detailed engravings in our 1648 Icones Biblicae

Figure 35:   Title page of our 1703 History of the Old and New Testament

Figure 36:   The Crucifixion of our Saviour in our 1703 History of the Old and New Testament

Figure 37:   1717 Vinegar Bible title pages

Figure 38:   1717 Vinegar Bible New Testament title page

Figure 39:   Title page of our 1750 Bible (Latin)]

Figure 40:   Portrait of Sebastianus Castellio in our 1750 Bible (Latin)

Figure 41:   Title page of the 1757 Clementine Latin Vulgate Bible

Figure 42:   Title page that precedes the Old Testament in our 1772 Baskerville Bible

Figure 43:   Descent from the cross

Figure 44:   Adam and Eve in our 1772 Baskerville Bible

Figure 45:   Adam and Eve driven out of Paradise

Figure 46:   Portrait of King George III in our 1786 Book of Common Prayer

Figure 47:   Title page of The Holy Bible edited by Noah Webster

Figure 48:   Inscription in pencil

Acknowledgements

I thank Andrew Nelson, our son, and his wife, Anne Nelson, for giving me various Bibles, religious books, and an original leaf from an early printed English Bible. I appreciate the many hours that Andrew has spent in helping me in the preparation of this book. Anne has also been helpful in taking pictures of the woodcuts and other illustrations that appear in this book. I appreciate the assistance of our granddaughter, Alex Nelson, for reviewing and editing the grammar in this book.

David Nelson, our other son, has