A Brief History of English Bible Translations

Rating:
Summary: Very brief coverage of too many translations!
Review: This short (114 pp) book provides a very brief overview of 166 (I counted them) translations of the Bible or New Testament, starting with Wycliffe and ending in 1991. As you can see, this limits the coverage of most versions to a short paragraph. Many of the versions covered are quite obscure, and not to be found outside of the rare books collections of major libraries. So if you want to know about Samuel Palmer's translation of the New Testament in 1765, get this book. Otherwise, if you want a more in-depth treatment of versions you are likely to find at the bookstore, along with a good short introduction to issues like text criticism and priciples of translation, I suggest "Essential Guide to Bible Versions", by Philip W. Comfort. Vance's book is not much help in actually choosing a Bible.