Library Record
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Metadata
Call# |
BS 195 .W4 |
Title |
THE HOLY BIBLE, Containing the Old and New Testaments: In the Common Version. With Amendments of the Language by Webster, L.L.D. |
Author |
Webster, Noah |
Publisher |
Durrie & Peck & Co. |
Published Place |
New Haven, Connecticut |
Published Date |
1833 |
Subjects |
U.S. - Early Republic Webster, Noah |
Notes |
1. Provenance: Signed by Noah Webster, a gift to his granddaughter. 2. An important Bible. Noah Webster [1758- 1843], compiler of Webster's Dictionary, set out to issue a revised Bible took into account the vast changes that had taken place in the language. This in much the same manner and spirit of his famous Dictionary. In 1831, he sent out a manuscript circular asking about its desirability. "Only James Minor, then one of the secretaries, seems to have replied (Jan. 30, 1832), and that discouragingly." [Hills]. Webster was not to be daunted, however, and the Bible was eventually published. In his preface, Webster pointed out that the English language had undergone so many changes in the nearly two hundred years since the first English Bibles were printed as to make the Bible so difficult to read that vast commentaries, references, and dictionaries had to be appended to the Good Book so as to it understandable to the common man. The Bible was not a success and Webster was deeply hurt by the public's indifference to what he considered "the most important enterprise of my life." [Skeel, p. 378]. 3. Caption THE HOLY BIBLE WITH AMENDMENTS OF THE LANGUAGE by NOAH WEBSTER, 1833 Noah Webster considered his 1833 modernization of the Bible "the most important enterprise of my life." Since the English language had changed much since the 1611 King James translation, Webster replaced obsolete words with understandable ones and corrected changes in grammar. Webster also modified words he felt were "offensive to delicacy" or could not "be uttered in company without a violation of decency." This particular Bible was given to his granddaughter Elizabeth Ellsworth and signed "From her revered grandfather, Noah Webster." Byrd Collection 254. |