The Original Douay Rheims Bible
In early 2007, I decided to reprint the original 3 volume Douay Rheims Bible. I did this for 3 primary reasons.
#1. It is out of print. A bible of this historical significance should be in print and accessible to the general public.
#2. It is important for students of the bible and of Latin to be able to have access to such a work. The original Douay Rheims bible is the most literal translation of the Latin Vulgate ever produced. it is an excellent resource for students of the Vulgate.
#3. This may be a superficial reason, but think it is a really fine bible to read and appreciate. The format and typography are truly a work of art.
This is not the Challoner revision of the Douay Rheims bible. This is the bible that Bishop Challoner used as a base text for his translation. While most complete bibles come in at about 1000 to 1200 pages, this one is almost 2900 pages. It is filled with tons of notes, annotations, historical texts and tables, and a lot of other information. I have provided some page samples below so you can look at them and judge for yourself. At first, my intent was to only produce a printed edition but due to the cost of it to the consumer and the diversified needs of the consumer, I have made it available in 3 different formats. A printed version, a CD ROM version, and a download.
A few notes on this edition
This edition was scanned from a 3 volume set that was printed in the mid-eighties. The mid-eighties reprint was offered in a 5” by 8” page size, which was a 10% reduction from the original. The scan quality of the mid-eighties edition could have been better, but is acceptable. There are a few isolated places where the text that is printed in a smaller font is very difficult to read. This applies to the notes and annotations. The biblical text is in a larger font and is much clearer. I had second thoughts about reprinting this edition because of these faults. Then I realized the fact that offering a slightly inferior edition is better than not having this bible available at all. I had this edition professionally scanned and converted it to an 8 ¼” by 10 ¾” page size. To my knowledge, this is the largest facsimile reprint of the original Douay Rheims Bible.
Why is this bible printed in 5 volumes?
Since the publisher I use has a page limit of 800 pages for their hardcover books, and each volume of the Old Testament has around 1000 pages, I had to split the original 2 volume Old Testament into 4. This made the cost go up since you have to buy more books get a complete set, but there wasn’t much I could do about it. One good thing, the divisions turned out to correspond with the 4 major divisions of the books of the Old Testament (the Pentateuch, the Historical Books, the Wisdom Books, and the Prophetical Books). It turned out that the New Testament has exactly 800 pages, so I was able to keep it a single volume.
Is there an inexpensive alternative to the printed edition?
Due to the cost of the printed edition, I produced a fully bookmarked .PDF available on CD-ROM or by Download that are a fraction of the cost (available below).
Is there any advantage to ordering the whole set?
I am also offering a substantial discount if you purchase the complete Douay Rheims Bible (all 5 volumes) as a complete set (see below). Also note the other “perks” when buying the whole set. (see the listing for the whole set below).
Why did you reprint the 1635 edition of the Old Testament and not the original (first) 1609 edition?
The reason why I reprinted the 1635 edition and not the 1609 edition is because this was the edition that was used in the facsimile that I scanned. There are very few differences between these editions, even though they were printed over 25 years apart. The spelling and format varied slightly but content is the same.
A few comments and information about the 1980’s reprint that was used to create the facsimile that we are offering.
The reprint that we used to make the scans for our edition has an interesting but odd background. A man by the name of Gordon Winrod who was a Pastor residing in Gainesville, Missouri is responsible for the whole reprinting process. Entirely with his own funds, he acquired an original 3 volume set the Douay Rheims Bible and had it reproduced. I’m not sure what method he used to scan the original. He used the word “photographically reproduced”. He had 2000 sets printed and offered them for sale. Although not a Catholic, this man was a staunch defender of the Vulgate as an authoritative translation of the original languages. He believed, as did the translator’s of the Douay Rheims Bible, that the Greek and Hebrew manuscripts were corrupted, so that they could not be relied upon as being solely authoritative. The Vulgate had not suffered the corruption that the other manuscripts did. It was preserved in the Church by its use in liturgical texts and official prayers. That’s the interesting part. The odd part is that this man was a flaming anti-Semitic. He was a conspiracy theorist who believed that the Jews were behind nearly everything evil in this world. The purity of the Vulgate was not the only reason he reprinted the original Douay Rheims. He believed that the notes and annotations in the original Douay Rheims supported his doctrines. This is a classic case of mis-interpretation of Catholic teaching on the Jews. We are not going to get into detail about the doctrines and teachings that this man formulated nor will I carry on about his involvement in the Christian Identity Movement and Mr. Winrod’s current state, which is in prison. But we will say that this is proof that something good can come out of something bad. Even though it was reprinted for all the wrong reasons, we can read, study, cherish, and enjoy the first complete English translation of Latin Vulgate thanks to his efforts. Why did we go to all of the trouble to explain all of this? We have received inquires about our reprint that express concern over using a Bible that was produced by such a controversial man. Implying that Mr. Winrod modified or changed the text of Scripture in some way. This is not a concern because this edition is an exact facsimile of the original printings. We must stress that it was not changed or modified in any way. This is an exact facsimile of the original texts.
We have included below a few downloads of interest. I must stress that these are provided for informational and study purposes only. We at churchlatin.com do not support, agree with the teachings of, or are connected with the authors of these texts in any way.
This download is the preface that was composed and added to volume one of the Douay Old Testament by Gordon Winrod. (I did not include this in my reprint)
Preface
This download is a flyer that he created to advertise and promote his reprint.
Flyer
This download contains two charts that compare how a few different translations of the bible render Christological passages in the old and new testaments.
Charts
Is the Original Douay Rheims bible available anywhere else?
Yes, but not as a facsimile. I have reprinted the actual historical text. There is another edition out there that is the fruit of a man named Dr. William von Peters. After many years of re-typesetting and re-formatting, he has released a slightly “updated” edition of the Douay Rheims. He calls it the Real or Original and True Douay Rheims Bible. When I say “updated”, I don’t mean revised or edited in any way. He has typed the whole bible out using a word processor and corrected the archaic word spellings. That is it. The original text was not corrupted in any way. If you are interested in such a version, look here - http://www.realdouayrheims.com/
On ordering the Douay Rheims Bible
Note that these volumes are heavy. Shipping can be a bit expensive especially if you are ordering the complete set. Please read the “How to Order” link under the “Books” link on the homepage for detailed ordering instructions and then send your order to Sales@ChurchLatin.com. Also note that there will be a 2 ½ to 3 week waiting period while your books are being printed. This time period is beyond my control. This is just how long it takes for the publisher to print and bind hardcover books. I have included large sample files of each volume that includes all of the front matter and the whole first book of each volume. I did this so you could carefully examine these texts before you decide to purchase.
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