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Arts Center - Rare Bibles

Highlights from Greek Bible collection

(Codex Alexandrinus)


By the mid-3rd century BCE Greek was the dominant lingua franca, and Jewish scholars began the task of translating the Hebrew canon into that language, an undertaking that was not completed for more than a century. Because tradition held that each of the 12 tribes of Israel contributed six scholars to the project, the Greek version of the Jewish Bible came to be known later (in Latin) as the Septaugint (septuaginta: “70”). (Britannica)  The New Testament is a collection of Christian texts originally written in the Koine Greek language, at different times by various authors.

Papyrus Bodmer XIV-XV, Tome 1 – XIV : Luc chap. 3-24

  • facsimile, P.75
  • 175-225 CE
  • Martin, Victor, and Kasser, Rodolphe. Evangile de Luc et Jean. Cologny-Genève: Bibliotheca Bodmeriana, 1961.
  • Moody Special Collections. PA3318 .C63 vols. 14-15

Chester Beatty Biblical papyri, v. 2 Gospels and Acts (text and plates)

  • facsimile, P.45
  • early 3rd century
  • Kenyon, Frederic G. , and Beatty, Alfred Chester. The Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri, Descriptions and Texts of Twelve Manuscripts on Papyrus of the Greek Bible. Fasc. I-. London: Emery Walker Limited, 1933.
  • BS39 .K4

Codex Sinaiticus

  • Facsimile
  • Bible. Greek. Codex Sinaiticus. 2010.
  • 330-360 CE
  • Script: uncial majuscule
  • One of the oldest Greek texts of the New Testament, along with Codex Vaticanus.  Discovered in the 19th Century on the Sinai Peninsula.  Large portions of the Old Testament are missing, but it is assumed the codex originally contained all of both the Old and New Testaments.  The surviving portion of the codex includes about half the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), the Deuterocanonical books, the Epistle of Barnabas and portions of The Shepherd of Hermas.
  • Polk Jumbo Oversize BS64 .S3 2010

Codex Vaticanus B

  • Facsimile
  • Bible. Greek. Biblioteca apostolica vaticana. Manuscript. Vat. Gr. 1209.
  • 4th century
  • Script: biblical uncial
  • Preserved in the Vatican Library since the 15th century, one of the oldest manuscripts of the Greek Bible and one of the four best examples of uncial codices. Includes both the Old and New Testament. 759 leaves of vellum (originally probably 830 leaves). Several scholars participated in the collation, possibly leading to the different order of the Old Testament than in the Codex Alexandrius.  Missing leaves, restored in the 15th century.
  • Moody Polk Oversize Polk Oversize BS64.V2 1999

Novum Testamentum Graecum : e codice Ms. Alexandrino, qui Londini in Bibliotheca Musei Britannici asservatur

  • Facsimile
  • Bible. New Testament. Codex Alexandrinus. 1786. 
  • 5th century
  • Script: uncial majuscule
  • This New Testament of the Codex Alexandrinus is an 18th century edition of an original codex that was obtained from Alexandria in 1308 CE and presented to the English royal library in 1624.  Bound in four volumes including the Old and New Testament, it is the most complete of the three early Greek Bibles (Vaticanus B and Sinaiticus)
  • Polk Jumbo Oversize BS1964.A5 W7 1786


Facsimile of the Codex Alexandrinus.

  • Bible. Greek. Codex Alexandrinus. 1879.
  • 5th century
  • Edward Maunde Thompson was made Keeper of the Manuscripts at the British Museum in 1878.  Under his supervision, this photographic facsimile of Codex Alexandrinus was issued in 1879-1880.  Moody Library has vols. 1 and 4. (v. 1. Old Testament: Genesis-2 Chronicles (1881) -- v. 4. New Testament and Clementine epistles (1879)).
  • Hughes Oversize BS64 .A5 1879b


Facsimile of the Washington manuscript of the four Gospels in the Freer collection

  • Bible. Gospels. Greek. Washington manuscript. 1912.
  • 4th to 5th century
  • Also named Codex Washingtonianus consists of the four Gospels.  It was acquired in Egypt by C.L. Freer in 1906.
  • Moody Arts Special Collections ; Z115Z.B59 A5 1912


The Rockefeller McCormick New Testament.

  • facsimile
  • Bible. New Testament. Greek. Rockefeller McCormick New Testament.
  • 12th century
  • Script: minuscule
  • A color facsimile with introduction by E.J. Goodspeed, text by D.W. Riddle, and miniatures by H.R. Willoughby.
  • Moody Arts Special Collections ND3359.R55 B5 1932 3 vols

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