So, you happen to be in an archive and forgot your camera. Well, rather than bemoaning the low quality of a cell phone lens, this might actually provide a little help in a pinch. It’s a relatively low tech solution for under $30. Unfortunately, it is sold out until January, but this is a great idea for a quick (and literal) photo copy. Now as with all macro lenses, stability is the key, so hold your breath and give it a try.

If you are interested in the Greek edition of the New Testament which coined the phrase “Textus Receptus“, you will want to download this. Abraham Elzevir in the course of his brief introduction regarding this edition of the Greek NT remarked “Textum ergo habes, nunc ab omnibus receptum: in quo nihil immutatum aut corruptam damus” (Therefore you have the text, now received by all: in which we publish nothing that is altered or corrupted). This phrase Textus Receptus now refers to more than simply the 1633 edition, frequently being applied to editions by Erasmus, Stephanus, Elzevir, and others throughout the 16th and 17th centuries that provide critical recensions of the Byzantine Text type or what is known as the Majority Text. I will leave it for others to debate and decide whether Elzevir was referring to the Byzantine Text type and Majority Text tradition or simply what he had in hand either way:

You now have the text received by all as the quitessential 1633 NT “Textus Receptus” edition. Enjoy.

By the way, this particular digital edition is in reverse order for some strange reason, and also, for those of you interested in digital paleography, a handwritten letter in Greek on the flyleaves, presumably by the owner.

Dr. Herman Selderhuis and Karla Apperloo of Refo500 interviewed Dr. Jordan Ballor (designatus) and myself at the Sixteenth Century Society & Conference in Fort Worth recently. Both Jordan and I had opportunity to present at the RefoRC conference in Zurich (June 2011). You can hear our thoughts on the opportunities through Refo500 & the research consortium, RefoRC, below. Also, the next RefoRC conference will be hosted by the University of Oslo, Faculty of Theology in May 2012. Jordan and I are also slated to speak at that conference as well.

A rare book dealer friend of mine shared a few letters with me the other day, and I thought I would pass on the signatures of Theodore Beza and Jerome Zanchi. Enjoy!

Just a notice about a two week intensive course in 16th century Latin Paleography that I will be teaching at the H. H. Meeter Center for Calvin Studies during June 2012. This is particularly for scholars who work (or want to work) with early modern Latin manuscripts. Please note that the level of Latin literacy required is moderate to advanced. Space is limited so apply early. All the relevant information can be found here.

On Reformation Day, I am happy to announce that the second version of Post-Reformation Digital Library is now open to the public. The official press release is here. David Sytsma, Jordan Ballor, myself (Todd Rester), and Dr. Amy Burnett participated in a round table discussion moderated by Dr. Karin Maag, director of the Meeter Center for Calvin Studies at the Sixteenth Century Society & Conference this past week. This discussion marked the official debut of PRDL 2.0 to the scholarly community and general public. This site is still affiliated with the Meeter Center for Calvin Studies at Hekman Library and can be accessed through their site as well.

This second version has been under construction since the spring of 2010 and now has over 34,000 volumes (a count which includes multiple editions of a title) and approximately 23,000 titles from over 1,900 authors. Another crucial aspect of PRDL 2.0 is the addition of an advisory board composed of internationally renowned scholars and specialists in a variety of early modern religious traditions (Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed, Anabaptist, Arminian, Socinian, etc.) and philosophical specialties. The addition of a database search function also allows queries of the finding list based on author, titles, year, edition, language, topic, tradition, printer, and publication city as well as any other key word. This is a great advance to the previous html based PRDL 1.0.

We have also linked the works in PRDL to the records in the WorldCat database so that our users might have the full title. One of the challenges facing a finding list like this is that the titles in various other databases are not uniform. This is one of the points that we are constantly improving. Another important aspect is the ability for users to comment and suggest changes. We have been working hard to find a way to easily moderate suggested changes and alterations to existing records. This database is only as useful and accurate as the involvement of the scholarly community makes it. So far we have been greatly encouraged by the many scholars and friends of the project that have so graciously offered their advice and input. So please communicate your thoughts with us about a particular work or author through the comment function. If you have a more specific or even more general question please e-mail the executive board. We will try to respond in a timely fashion.

There are many more features and functions that could be described, but I encourage you to take a peek and add it to your web bookmarks. WWW.PRDL.ORG

Just try to say that five times real fast. Seriously though, if you find yourself working in 16th to 18th century Dutch and your writer happens to use a quote from Medieval/Middle or Old Dutch, this marvelous integrated online database will more than likely bail you out … or at least give you the equivalent in Modern Dutch.

This is the link straight to the app.

Most folks associate Jonathan Edwards with the First Great Awakening. It is certainly true that Edwards was a strong congregationalist voice for revivals during this period in American Christianity. But there were other voices in other traditions, like Gilbert Tennent among Presbyterians and Theodorus J. Frelinghuysen (1692-1747) among the Dutch Reformed. Frelinghuysen was also instrumental in the founding of Queen’s College which later became Rutgers University. His role is sketched here. Available on Google books is this collection of sermons in English. This work also has a fair biography of his life and influence.

Image Source: Rutgers University Library

Thanks to David Sytsma, PhD candidate at Princeton Theological Seminary, for the heads up that a color copy of Richard Baxter’s 1681 Methodus Theologiae Christianae has found its way onto Google Books here. Perhaps best known for his work “The Reformed Pastor” and the Orme editions of 23 volumes of Baxter’s practical theology.

To whet the appetite for the Methodus, in this work Baxter defines theology as “the affective-practical Doctrine/Science concerning the kingdom of God over human beings. There is a threefold status of this kingdom: (1) of nature, (2) of grace, and (3) of glory.”

Enjoy!

For those of you who would like a resource for Anglo-Saxon and Gothic tongues (i.e. Viking relatives from what the medievals called Götland in roughly southeastern Sweden), Franciscus Junius the Younger not only published the gospels in Gothic and Anglo-Saxon, but also compiled a dictionary with a basic grammar for Gothic. Be sure to disambiguate Junius Junior (Franciscus Junius Filius Francisci, or Franciscus Junius F. F.) from Franciscus Junius, his father, student of Calvin — take care Google books does not. What makes this particular diglot important is that the study notes are etymologically comparative with the classic and ancient near-eastern languages as well as with the Germanic ones on textual issues in the Gospels. For the scholar learning the language, F.J. Jr. also lists out the critical resources for studying the languages in his preface of the Gothicum Glossarium. Enjoy!