Catalán / Catalan Bible History (3)

**List: Catalan Ministry the Bible ( la Bíblia ) Catalan... CATALAN, OR CATALONIAN.    "Two or three Catalan versions of the Bible (one of which bears the date 1407) are preserved at Paris.   One of these MSS. is deposited in the Royal Library, and contains a translation from the Latin of the entire Scriptures, with the prefaces of Jerome; it is beautifully written on fine parchment, and bound in three volumes.   In 1478, a version of the Scriptures in the Valencian dialect was printed at Valencia, but no portion of this edition is extant except the last four pages of one of the copies.   From the subscription appended to these pages, we learn that the translation was made from the Latin by Boniface Ferrer, assisted by other learned men in the monastery of Porta Cœli; and that, after having been revised by Borrell, a Dominican and inquisitor, it was printed at the expense of Vizlant, a merchant.   The date of the translation is unknown, but it was probably executed at the very com- mencement of the fifteenth century, as Ferrer died in 1419.   The four pages which have reached our times are preserved in the monastery of Porta Cœli; they were transcribed and printed by Father Civera, in his work entitled "Varones illustres del Monasterio de Porta Cœli."    No further attempts seem to have been made to furnish the Catalans with a version of the Scriptures in their own dialect till the institution of the British and Foreign Bible Society.   About the year 1809, two Catalan translations of St. Matthew's Gospel were laid before the committee of that Society, and some inquiries were made as to their respective merits.   Ultimately, however, a version of the entire New Testament was prepared at the expense of the Society by Mr. Prat, a native of Catalonia, under the superintendence of the Rev. Mr. Cheap of Knaresborough.   An edition of 1000 copies was printed in London in 1832, under the care of the late Mr. Greenfield, editorial superin- tendent of the Society.   A second edition of 2000 copies of the New Testament was published in London in 1835, and a third edition of 3000 copies was brought out at Barcelona in 1837, under the care of Lieut. Graydon, R.N., the Society's agent in that city.   The total number of copies of the New Testament in the Catalan language, printed by the Society, amounted, at the close of 1859, to 9030.   These editions were gladly received by the Catalans, and obtained a speedy circulation.   The translation, which was made from the Vulgate conferred with the original text, is accounted accurate and faithful; and the style in which it is written is idiomatic, clear, and elegant.   The Psalms and the Pentateuch have since been translated by Mr. Prat, but have not yet been committed to the press."--The Bible of Every Land. (1860, Second Edition)   Samuel Bagster   [Info only] CATALAN, OR CATALONIAN.--1860   S. Bagster   [Info only: n.d. John 1:1-14 {correct w/ unigenit = "only begotten" @ 1:14}.]

[Christian Helps Ministry (USA)] [Christian Home Bible Course]