A History of the English Bible as Literature
A History of the English Bible as Literature
A History of the English Bible as Literature (revised and condensed from the author's acclaimed History of the Bible as Literature CUP, 1993) explores five hundred years of religious and literary ideas. At its heart is the story of how the King James Bible went from being mocked as English writing to being "unsurpassed in the entire range of literature." It studies the Bible translators, writers such as Milton and Bunyan who contributed so much to our sense of the Bible, and a fascinating range of critics and commentators.
- Condensation and revision for a popular market of a major Cambridge book
- Only up-to-date book on the subject
- For general readers as well as students of the Bible and of literature
Reviews & endorsements
"In a volume this detailed, a nod in the direction of the enormous vogue for such interpretation of the Bible since about 1960 would be appropriate. Accessible and recommended for undergraduate and graduate collections that do not own the two-volume edition." Choice
"This edition of the two-volume History of the Bible as Literature (1993) cuts down the material to more manageable proportions by confining the focus to the English Bible, reducing the number of examples, and omitting the appendices." Theology Digest
"Norton's magisterial study...is a treasure trove for anyone who is interested in the cultural imapct of the Bible in the English-speaking world." Religious Studies Review
"This is a very good book indeed...Norton's volume is filled on every page with the true scholar's eye for detail and understanding of the whole field...Norton's fine book does a good deal to begin to restore the Bible to its proper place in English language cultural history." Theology Today
Product details
June 2000Hardback
9780521771405
524 pages
236 × 160 × 32 mm
0.83kg
16 b/w illus.
Available
Table of Contents
- 1. Creators of English
- 2. From the Great Bible to the Rheims-Douai Bible: arguments about language
- 3. The King James Bible
- 4. Literary implications of Bible presentation
- 5. The struggle for acceptance
- 6. The Psalter in verse and poetry
- 7. The eloquentest book in the world'
- 8. Writers and the Bible 1: Milton and Bunyan
- 9. The early eighteenth century and the KJB
- 10. Mid-century
- 11. The critical rise of the KJB
- 12. Writers and the Bible 2: the Romantics
- 13. Literary discussion to mid-victorian times
- 14. The revised version
- 15. 'The Bible as literature'
- 16. The later reputation of the KJB
- 17. The New English Bible.
