Bibles

 

The Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Bible Collection, a comprehensive survey of the printed Bible with notably strong holdings in early English editions, complements Bridwell’s Thomas J. Harrison Bible Collection and other Bibles acquired throughout the Library’s history.  The collection extends from the medieval period to the present and includes incunables; Biblical languages, Polyglot and Diglot Bibles, European and world vernacular languages, English and American imprints, and modern fine press editions.    

 

Active collecting interests:

*Incunables:  Latin and European vernacular languages.

 

*Languages: Biblical languages, European vernacular languages, and world vernacular languages.  Diglot and Polyglot Bibles are of special interest as are works printed with exotic typefaces.  For world vernacular languages, the collecting focus is on Bibles, New Testaments, Old Testaments, and / or Psalms in first or early printings.  (Other parts of the Bible are considered if that portion is all that was printed in that language.)   

 

*Illustrated editions:  Illustrations or illustrators not represented in the collection.

 

*Physical features: Contemporary or early bindings and provenance; annotations, additions, and other evidence of contemporary or early ownership and use; illuminations and printed illustrations, printed commentaries, notes, and other scholarly apparatus.

 

*In the areas noted above, authors/editors, texts/commentaries/translations, printers, and printing locations not already represented in the collection are of particular interest.

 

*Chronological scope: Medieval to the present.

 

*Geographic scope: Global.

 

References:

The Bible:  100 Landmarks from the Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Collection. 

Dallas:  Bridwell Library, 1990.

 

The Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Bible Collections: A checklist. Edited by Isaac Gewirtz.  Dallas: Bridwell Library, 1996. 

 

The Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Bible Collection at Bridwell Library, 1996-2006. Curated and edited by Elizabeth Haluska-Rausch, PhD with contributions by Eric Marshall White, PhD. Dallas: Bridwell Library, 2006.

 

 “The Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Bible Collection: A Thematic and Chronological Bibliography” is included on pages 107-127  of the 2006 Prothro Bible Collection exhibition catalogue cited above and is also available online at http://smu.edu/bridwell/specialcollections/prothroexhibit/prothrobibliography.htm. In addition, a checklist of the Harrison Bible Collection is available online at http://smu.edu/bridwell/specialcollections/harrison/harrisongift.htm. A checklist of Bibles purchased with grants from the Harrison Trust is also online at http://smu.edu/bridwell/specialcollections/harrison/harrisontrust.htm.