Please Read This

This is a newly typeset edition of the Original Douay-Rheims Bible of 1582 (New Testament) and 1609 (Old Testament). It is a work in progress. As of this writing the work is incomplete; in addition, the typography and layout still leave much to be desired.

• The projects home-page is at:
  http://saint-dismas.com
• You can get pdf's (by book) at:
  https://github.com/s-dismas/Pdf
• You can purchase printed volumes at:
  https://www.lulu.com/search?contributor=Dismas

The only other available editions of the original Douay-Rheims Bible that I am aware of are difficult-to-read copies of copies of the original printings from between 1582 and 1610. There is also an edition by Dr. William G. von Peters where he has transliterated the text into modern English. While from what I have heard, he has done a wonderfull job, this has always seemed dangerous to me — it is too easy to forget that the English language has changed since Shakespeare's time 400 years ago. Finally, there is Bishop Challoner's 1749-1752 revision of the Douay-Rheims. Most modern editions of the Douay-Rheims Bible are really this revised version. If you just want to read the Douay-Rheims Bible, that is probably a better choice than this work. However, the (highly polemical) commentary here is excellent, and well worth the extra effort required.

Warning

Not only the spelling, but the meaning of many English words has changed in the last four hundred years. If you truly want to study the Bible and do not know Latin and Greek, you should always compare multiple translations. The modern translation by Msgr. Ronald Knox (available at newadvent.com), although a bit loose at points, is a particularly fine one.

Some Notes on the Text Itself

Not only the language, but the typography has changed in the last 400 years. Here are some notes that may assist you:

• The `long s' (`ſ') is an older form of the lower case letter s. It was used at the beginning or in the middle of a word. Thus, `ſinfulneſs' for `sinfulness'.
• There was not the modern distinction made between the lower case letter forms `u' and `v'. A `v' was used at the beginning of a word, and a `u' elsewhere. Thus, `vſed' for `used' and `heauen' for `heaven'. Also, only the `V' was used for upper case letters. Finally, since the letter `w' was uncommon in France where these were type-set, they sometimes used `vv'. Thus, `lavvful' for `lawful'.
• There was not the modern distinction made between the lower case letter forms `i' and `j'. The `i' was used almost universally.
• In order to better fit a line of text into the available space, the type-setters occasionally used abbreviations such as: `oftẽ'. Here the `~' above the vowel indicates that either an `n' or an `m' has been elided.
• There are six kinds of notes:
  • End Notes: These appear at the end of a chapter, and are marked with a musical note, ♪. The marker appears at the beginning of the notated passage.
  • Foot Notes: These appear at the bottom of a page, and are marked with a letter. The marker appears at the beginning of the notated passage.
  • Marginal Notes: These appear in the right margin.
  • Textual Notes: These appear in the left margin, and generally give the original Latin or Greek.
  • Citations: These appear in the left margin, and indicate a cross-reference to another part of the Bible, or to some commentary from one of the Church Fathers.
  • Variant Readings: These appear in the left margin, and indicate a variant reading for the text.

How You Can Help

From most to least helpful:

• Pray for me to the Lord our God.
• Check the citations and cross-references for accuracy, and reformulate them so they can be easily used by the modern reader.
• Proofread the Latin, Greek, or Hebrew texts against the original.
• Proofread the current text against the original.
• Give me money.

You can contact me at destiny6ATmacDOTcom, or
Robert Krug
P.O. Box 788
Columbia, Ken., 42728

All thoughts, suggestions, comments, or complaints will be appreciated.

--- Robert Krug