to new edition
The enlargement of the present edition to nearly twice the size of its predecessor has not been achieved without the expenditure of much time, trouble, and research. The addition comprise many versions specially translated for the purpose, such as Accadian, Babylonian, Assyrian, and the different stages of Egyptian, amongst archaic languages; and Hausa, Swahili, and others, amongst modern languages. Many African and Polynesian versions also appear for the first time. The various texts of the Ancient Greek have been given, and several versions of interest, such as that of the Prayer Book of Edward VI, the Roman Catholic version, and “Braid Scots,” have been added to the collection.
The historical development of various languages, such as Croatian, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Hindustani, and others, has been illustrated by the inclusion of the older forms. Dialectal ramifications are also illustrated under Basque, Italian, French, Spanish, Sardinian, &c.
In comparing different versions, it should be borne in mind that some are given from St. Matthew’s Gospel and others from St. Luke’s, while some have been made from the Revised text and others from the Received, as shown under Greek and English.
In accordance with the twofold design of the book, there are not only additional languages and dialects, but several new specimens of characters will be found, e.g. under Arabic (Cufic), Batta, Bisaya, Bugi and Makassar, Chamba, Cherokee, Georgian, Gothic (Moeso-Gothic), Japanese, Kaithi, Kalmuk, Norse (Runes), Palmyrene, Peguese, Phoenician, Siamese, Slavonic (Glagolitic), Sundanese, and Syriac, as well as the archaic Cuneiform and Egyptian; and in other cases examples of languages written and printed in different characters, such as Badaga, Pali, Sanskrit, and others.
