The Latin New Testament: A Guide to its Early History, Texts, and Manuscripts

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence. It is free to read at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations. Latin is the language in which the New Testament was copied, read, and studied for over a millennium. The remains of the initial 'Old Latin' version preserve important testimony for early forms of text and the way in which the Bible was understood by the first translators. Successive revisions resulted in a standard version subsequently known as the Vulgate which, along with the creation of influential commentaries by scholars such as Jerome and Augustine, shaped theology and exegesis for many centuries. Latin gospel books and other New Testament manuscripts illustrate the continuous tradition of Christian book culture, from the late antique codices of Roman North Africa and Italy to the glorious creations of Northumbrian scriptoria, the pandects of the Carolingian era, eleventh-century Giant Bibles, and the Paris Bibles associated with the rise of the university. In The Latin New Testament, H.A.G. Houghton provides a comprehensive introduction to the history and development of the Latin New Testament. Drawing on major editions and recent advances in scholarship, he offers a new synthesis which brings together evidence from Christian authors and biblical manuscripts from earliest times to the late Middle Ages. All manuscripts identified as containing Old Latin evidence for the New Testament are described in a catalogue, along with those featured in the two principal modern editions of the Vulgate. A user's guide is provided for these editions and the other key scholarly tools for studying the Latin New Testament.

Table of Contents:
List of Images List of Abbreviations Part One: History 1: From the Origins to the End of the Third Century 2: The Fourth Century and the Beginning of the Vulgate 3: Competing Texts 4: The Eighth and Ninth Centuries 5: The Tenth Century Onwards Part Two: Texts 6: Editions and Resources 7: Latin as a Witness for the Greek New Testament 8: The Text of the Early Latin New Testament Part Three: Manuscripts 9: Features of Latin Biblical Manuscripts Appendices Appendix 1: Concordances of Manuscript Sigla Appendix 2: Additional Manuscripts Cited in Vetus Latina Editions Appendix 3: Additional Gospel Manuscripts Bibliography Index of Manuscripts Index of Biblical Passages Index of Ancient Authors Index of Subjects

About the Author :
H. A. G. Houghton is Professor of New Testament Textual Scholarship at the University of Birmingham, where he is also Director of the Institute for Textual Scholarship and Electronic Editing. He is one of the editors of the Gospel according to John and corresponding editor for the principal Pauline Epistles in the Vetus Latina series.

Review :
The work is an astounding achievement for its breadth, concision, and wealth of material introduced. In light of the authors obvious care for the subject, readers may well expect to follow his exemplary scholarship for many years to come. This book is a masterpiece, and it will be admired as such for many decades to come. This book not only updates earlier guides to the Latin New Testament, but it also appears to be the only monograph in the past century to treat the entire history of that tradition—and the only one ever to appear in English. Houghton's work is filled with fascinating and entertaining facts. ... [He] must be commended for such a helpful guide to the Latin New Testament. ... Readers will benefit greatly from Houghton's painstaking efforts to organize and catalogue an overarching picture of the text that served the western church for centuries. The work is an astounding achievement for its breadth, concision, and wealth of material introduced. In light of the author's obvious care for the subject, readers may well expect to follow his exemplary scholarship for many years to come. This book is likely to prove an invaluable aid to anyone wishing to study the text and tradition of the Latin NT. a rich resource that serves a number of different audiences. ... Houghton has produced a thorough, near-complete, and insightful introduction to the early history of the Latin New Testament and its scholarly study. Textual scholars will find a comprehensive overview and access to further material; historians will find a technically responsible, yet accessible, history of transmission. Houghton has succeeded in writing a book that prepares and equips students and scholars to study the Latin New Testament. Readers who have a familiarity with the textual criticism and Latin will find the book to be accessible and easy to understand, but even those with no knowledge in these areas will benefit from reading this book. Thus, Houghton has made a significant contribution to the field of textual criticism, and his book should be used by anyone seeking an introduction or guide to the Latin New Testament. The book's orientation of the reader in not only the manuscripts but also the scholarship is an enormous service: most scholars will probably find something they were unaware of that will answer a lingering question in their minds ... This is the most useful kind of scholarship: readable, informative, and engaging. It summarizes a vast swathe of literature and makes it accessible to others, overturning widely held misconceptions, and showing how we can get far more information out of the Latin New Testament and its manuscripts. This book is required reading for anyone studying the New Testament, patristic and medieval literature, or biblical manuscripts. It is deserving of a home in any humanities library. Houghton has produced a magisterial piece of scholarship and has done so in a way that is sure to benefit scholars and students alike. He has given a wide audience a clear introduction to the history and significance of the Latin New Testament as well as an invaluable reference text for the manuscripts of the LNT. As an introduction, the book is clear and concise; as a reference work, it is easy to navigate and decipher. Houghton has, without a doubt, produced a standard work for the present period of textual criticism which is taking place with renewed vigor. The book is attractively produced, with photographs of some of the most interesting manuscripts ... [it] looks likely to be a standard resource for some time. [I] would like to emphasise the competence of the author who succeeds in marrying synthetic views and precision. This guide will be of great value to scholars in patristic and biblical studies.