Four Book Ideas

[Peter Kirby]

I have four ideas for making a book, and I wanted to guage which ones generate the most interest.

The first idea is to republish J. Tixeront's "Handbook of Patrology" (1920) in paperback.

The second idea is to republish Charles's "The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament" in either multiple paperbacks, or in a reduced version of the Pseudepigrapha. Your call.

The third idea is to make a "New Testamant Catena" book (perhaps titled "The New Testament as Annotated by the Church Fathers") that is essentially my e-Catena, but improved. It would have the complete text of the New Testament (in the KJV or ASV or Goodspeed's American Translation--I'm not sure, give me a suggestion--the only reason I suggest KJV is that this approximates well what the ANF translators were most influenced by) and the quotes of the Church Fathers would be in footnotes, cleaned up and quoted enough to get the sense.

The fourth idea is to make "The Greek New Testament in the Parallel Alexandrian, Western, and Byzantine Forms." This would have the complete text of the Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Bezae, and Robinson's Byzantine text in four lines that are made parallel to each other, kind of like an interlinear, but all in Greek.

Which sounds the most attractive to you? The least attractive? What suggestions would improve on the idea? What would the books be worth to you?

Thanks for your help.

best wishes,
Peter Kirby (who is currently entering Early Christian Writings into a searchable database)

[Chris Weimer]

I like the last idea, except what about when you have corrections, like the duplicate versions of Sinaiticus etc...?

[Peter Kirby]

I like the last idea, except what about when you have corrections, like the duplicate versions of Sinaiticus etc...?
I was thinking of using footnotes for the revisor.

best wishes,
Peter Kirby

[S.C.Carlson]

I have four ideas for making a book, and I wanted to guage which ones generate the most interest.

The first idea is to republish J. Tixeront's "Handbook of Patrology" (1920) in paperback.

1920? A good, cheap patrology would be nice, since Quasten from the 1950s is already getting long in the tooth. If Tixeront is not brought up to date, however, I'm not sure it would be worthwhile.

The second idea is to republish Charles's "The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament" in either multiple paperbacks, or in a reduced version of the Pseudepigrapha. Your call.

The market might become too crowded here because the University of St. Andrews just got a major grant to bring the OT Pseudepigrapha online (see here (http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~www_sd/MOTP/index-motp.html) for more).

The third idea is to make a "New Testamant Catena" book (perhaps titled "The New Testament as Annotated by the Church Fathers") that is essentially my e-Catena, but improved. It would have the complete text of the New Testament (in the KJV or ASV or Goodspeed's American Translation--I'm not sure, give me a suggestion--the only reason I suggest KJV is that this approximates well what the ANF translators were most influenced by) and the quotes of the Church Fathers would be in footnotes, cleaned up and quoted enough to get the sense.

How would this compete with the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture series?

The fourth idea is to make "The Greek New Testament in the Parallel Alexandrian, Western, and Byzantine Forms." This would have the complete text of the Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Bezae, and Robinson's Byzantine text in four lines that are made parallel to each other, kind of like an interlinear, but all in Greek.

Reuben Swanson has been doing this and has already completed Matthew through Romans plus Galatians, only with about 60-100 Greek manuscripts. I think he's arranged for Kent Richards to take the project over.

Which sounds the most attractive to you? The least attractive? What suggestions would improve on the idea? What would the books be worth to you?

I'm not saying that these are bad ideas. On the contrary, I think that they are so good that you'll have to deal with competition.

Stephen

[Diogenes the Cynic]

I like the Greek idea. I would buy that book.

[Chris Weimer]

Why not just write your own commentary on a book? That's what Vork did (Mark) and what I'm doing with Matthew.

[Peter Kirby]

Why not just write your own commentary on a book? That's what Vork did (Mark) and what I'm doing with Matthew.

I would not like to write a full commentary on a New Testament book. It's a major endeavor just to get up to date on the literature. Markus Barth, who wrote the Anchor Bible Commentary on Ephesians, turned down the offer to make another one for fear that death would claim him first.

Maybe a commentary on a non-NT book? Which extant non-NT book(s) would you like to see commentaries on?

best wishes,
Peter Kirby

[Peter Kirby]

1920? A good, cheap patrology would be nice, since Quasten from the 1950s is already getting long in the tooth. If Tixeront is not brought up to date, however, I'm not sure it would be worthwhile.

Brought up to date how? Updated bibliographies? Revised entirely?

The market might become too crowded here because the University of St. Andrews just got a major grant to bring the OT Pseudepigrapha online (see here (http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~www_sd/MOTP/index-motp.html) for more).

I went to the link, and if I read it right, it looks like they will be bringing to print more Old Testament Pseudepigrapha in English translation. So there is still room for a reprint of R. H. Charles, as long as it is priced competetively with Charlesworth.

I might as well, since I've already scanned the thing in and proofread it twice.

How would this compete with the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture series?

I would try to include everything--every quotation or footnoted reference--from the Ante-Nicene period, instead of selecting orthodox writers from the first seven centuries. I might even write some trick software to find additional references (not noted in the ANF) through the TLG, based on comparing Greek words.

Reuben Swanson has been doing this and has already completed Matthew through Romans plus Galatians, only with about 60-100 Greek manuscripts. I think he's arranged for Kent Richards to take the project over.

Do you know how much it costs or will cost?

I'm not saying that these are bad ideas. On the contrary, I think that they are so good that you'll have to deal with competition.

Stephen

Thanks Stephen. Your comments are helpful. As always! :)

I have a fifth idea, for which I already have a voice actor and sound technician lined up. It is to produce an audiobook of the Apostolic Fathers. Without the Shepherd of Hermas, it would include 4 audio CD's and would cost about $40. That way people can listen to the texts while in the car or whatever, instead of having to read. Does anyone have any suggestions about that; would they buy it or recommend it to a friend? Would anyone want to have audiobooks of other texts?

best wishes,
Peter Kirby

[ConsequentAtheist]

The fourth idea is to make "The Greek New Testament in the Parallel Alexandrian, Western, and Byzantine Forms." This would have the complete text of the Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Bezae, and Robinson's Byzantine text in four lines that are made parallel to each other, kind of like an interlinear, but all in Greek.Without English translations? :o

Maybe a commentary on a non-NT book? Which extant non-NT book(s) would you like to see commentaries on?Isaiah.

[S.C.Carlson]

Brought up to date how? Updated bibliographies? Revised entirely?

Definitely updated bibliographies, but also keeping up with new manuscript discoveries and the changes in attribution for many of the works. For example, some of pseudo-Chrysostom homilies on Matthew are now assigned to Chromatius. That's not in Quasten, but was figured in the late 1960s.

As another example, the state of the Hippolytean corpus is a mess.

I went to the link, and if I read it right, it looks like they will be bringing to print more Old Testament Pseudepigrapha in English translation. So there is still room for a reprint of R. H. Charles, as long as it is priced competetively with Charlesworth.

I might as well, since I've already scanned the thing in and proofread it twice.

That's your business decision.

I would try to include everything--every quotation or footnoted reference--from the Ante-Nicene period, instead of selecting orthodox writers from the first seven centuries. I might even write some trick software to find additional references (not noted in the ANF) through the TLG, based on comparing Greek words.

I hope this means that you won't take e-Catena off-line. ;)

Do you know how much it costs or will cost?

About $20-$40 a book, so not particularly cheap. If you limited it to the four and provide an English translation of them, that would be different from what's out there. I think there's a fair number of people who are interested in seeing how much of a practical effect the textual differences really amount to.

Thanks Stephen. Your comments are helpful. As always! :)

You're welcome.

I have a fifth idea, for which I already have a voice actor and sound technician lined up. It is to produce an audiobook of the Apostolic Fathers. Without the Shepherd of Hermas, it would include 4 audio CD's and would cost about $40. That way people can listen to the texts while in the car or whatever, instead of having to read. Does anyone have any suggestions about that; would they buy it or recommend it to a friend? Would anyone want to have audiobooks of other texts?

I'm not into audiobooks, so someone else should comment.

Stephen

[Julian]

I spend 2 to 6 hours in the car commuting every day so I would certainly be interested in audio books. However, I do tend to borrow them from the library due to their high cost and lack of usefulness as a reference work.

Also, a question, how would your interlinear poly-codex NT be different from what a critical apparatus currently provides other than being easier to read? I could see that being a definite advantage but I am just wondering if I am missing something...

Julian

[Peter Kirby]

I spend 2 to 6 hours in the car commuting every day so I would certainly be interested in audio books. However, I do tend to borrow them from the library due to their high cost and lack of usefulness as a reference work.

Also, a question, how would your interlinear poly-codex NT be different from what a critical apparatus currently provides other than being easier to read? I could see that being a definite advantage but I am just wondering if I am missing something...

Julian

It would give you the exact complete text of these three codices, and it would thus note all the differences between them. It would also give you the complete, accented text of Robinson's Byzantine reconstruction, hence giving an easy way to compare "Alexandrian" (Vaticanus and Sinaiticus), "Western" (Bezae), and "Byzantine" (Robinson) text flavors. A critical apparatus would take note of more witnesses, but it would provide a small fraction of the variants.

best wishes,
Peter Kirby

[Julian]

Okay, sounds reasonable. Although, one could argue that A would be a better witness for a byzantine uncial as far as the gospels are concerned, being the oldest byzantine ms. I am not familiar with this Robinson thing, I am assuming that it is not a TR type document. Does it incorporate A in some way?

Yeah, I could see myself buying a book like what you suggest. I could also imagine that it would have broad appeal if you included English. Bible study groups everywhere would rejoice. :)

Julian

[anders]

The fourth idea is to make "The Greek New Testament in the Parallel Alexandrian, Western, and Byzantine Forms." This would have the complete text of the Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Bezae, and Robinson's Byzantine text in four lines that are made parallel to each other, kind of like an interlinear, but all in Greek.
I would buy it on sight, but I'm not sure when I would read it. BTW, again, pse quote the Early X... update CD.