Rare Bibles and Bible translations

Did you know that Special Collections houses hundreds of old and rare Bibles in over 50 languages? From medieval manuscripts to 19th-century missionary translations, there are hundreds of volumes containing the Bible or portions of the Biblical text in the collections. You can find many early printed Bibles in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew; polyglot Bibles (printed in multiple languages); and early editions of landmark English translations — including a first edition King James Bible from 1611. Bibles in other European languages like German, Swedish, Russian, and Icelandic are available, along with Bible translations in Arabic, Turkish, Hawaiian, Samoan, Eskimo, Tibetan, Cherokee, and Choctaw, to name just a few.

Bibles in specific languages can be found several ways using the library catalog. Don’t forget to limit your search to HBLL Special Collections!

1. Using a keyword title search, enter in the word “Bible” and the name of the language. You can also use the keyword title search to look for specific translations, for example “Bible Geneva” or “Bible Olivetan.”

2. Use the “language” drop-down menu from the advanced search box in the library catalog to limit your results. The advanced search box also allows for limiting search results by date or by a range of dates.