The Bible Society in New Zealand Collection of 183 printed pre-1800 bibles and related material, and seven medieval manuscripts was deposited at the Alexander Turnbull Library on permanent loan in 1978.
The printed items in the Collection range from miniature to folio formats and include:
- five incunabula (publications from the 15th century)
- Hebrew, Greek, German, and Latin bibles from the 16th century
- Dutch, French, Irish, Welsh, and Syriac bibles from the 17th century
- diglots and polyglots ( including a Gothic, Icelandic, Swedish and Latin polyglot from 1671).
English bibles include examples of the main 16th-century versions: Tyndale, Matthew, Coverdale, Great, Geneva, Bishops, and Rheims bibles. Error bibles include the Great She Bible and the Vinegar Bible.
The early manuscripts include three bibles, a glossed St Matthew's Gospel, a psalter, book of hours, and an antiphonal. They date from the 12th through to the 15th centuries. Other manuscript items from the Bible Society deposit are held in the Turnbull Library's Manuscripts Collection.
About the Bible Society in New Zealand and its collection
Bibles contributed much to shaping what was distinctive about New Zealand's colonial past. They were commonly part of the luggage of 19th-century settlers, and were a reminder of home and a symbol of civilisation. In addition, they were often used as a means of recording significant family events.
The Bible Society was active in New Zealand almost from the beginning of European settlement. The London-based British and Foreign Bible Society established an auxiliary in Auckland in 1846, followed soon after by Wellington in 1848. Various other branches followed, and an independent national organisation was formed in 1918.
The Bible Society in New Zealand started collecting historical material in 1932, when a collection of bibles and medieval manuscripts belonging to Masterton collector Albert Clemas (1880-1956) became available for purchase. Other acquisitions soon followed, and from 1933 the Bible Society’s library formed the basis of a travelling display at agricultural and pastoral shows around New Zealand. Eventually, the collection became too valuable to be shown and instead was kept at the Wellington office prior to its move to the Alexander Turnbull Library.
Access items in this collection
This collection is available at Archives New Zealand for the duration of the building redevelopment.
The collection is catalogued on the National Library Catalogue. The manuscripts are catalogued on Tapuhi.
Contact details, and information about accessing, borrowing, and making copies from this Collection
