"The Dartmouth Bible" Gets Enthusiastic Press Notices
The Dartmouth Bible, edited by the late Prof. Herman Feldman of Tuck School and Prof. Roy B. Chamberlin, Dartmouth's chapel director, has received unusual critical acclaim since its publication by Houghton Mifflin on September 25. The following excerpts from three of the reviews are representative of the reception given to the new, abridged Bible, which is the fruit of long years of work by two members of the Dartmouth faculty.
"Those who have contended with the recent plethora of books claiming to transmit the Bible better than the Bible does will inevitably approach any new version with conscious skepticism. However, in the case of the present work, this attitude will be swiftly converted into astonished satisfaction and even enthusiasm. If the reading public is not contented with The Dartmouth Bible, it will never be contented. This is far and away the best presentation of the Bible for the average reader yet produced
"To those who have lamented their ig- norance of the Bible but have found the traditional versions too formidable, to those who have not found what they wanted in the new translations and the various 'books about the Bible, to those who have wished for a readable Bible—to all these alike, as also to the clergy and to teachers of the Bible—The DuTtTnouthBible is the volume for which they have been waiting."
NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
"There have been many attempts to simplify the Bible for the benefit of those who, not proposing a scholarly approach to the Book of Books, wish to read it in- telligently. Although some of these at- tempts have made contributions, yet their total value is limited. Reading the Bible intelligently is a formidable task.
"Doctors Chamberlin and Feldman, of the Dartmouth faculty, respectively a min- ister and a layman of differing religious backgrounds, have not been guilty of sim- plification. They have made available the complex book of all mankind to an im- mensely widened readership. The Dart-mouth Bible is really magnificent. Its scholarship is superb but without pedan- try
"The editors did not distort nor expur- gate, but, without doing away with any- thing of religious value or of literary splendor, they have shortened the Bible by half. The Dartmouth Bible is not a sampling of favorite passages but a Bible that gives the reader the Bible in the wholeness of its interest and spiritual lead- ership."
CHICAGO SUNDAY TRIBUNE MAGAZINE OF BOOKS
"This is a beautiful production job £or which the publishers (Houghton Mifflin) deserve high praise. It runs to more than 1200 pages, on good paper, with excellent typography. One wonders whether there is any hope anywhere of making a profit on such a publication, or whether this is all for the glory of God—and Dartmouth.
"I sat up most of last night reading this new treasure. I am sure it will do nobody any harm, and it may do good to many. For many years may it shed a glow upon the enlightened institution whence it comes—Dartmouth College."
CHARLES DRISCOLL New York Day by Day
PROF. ROY B. CHAMBERLIN, Dartmouth chapel director, who with the late Prof. Herman Feldman edited the highly successful "Dartmouth Bible."
