EDITORS: Photo of fragment of Epistle of Saint Paul available on request.

ANN ARBOR—From ancient manuscripts to the modern printed book, from papyrus to English translations, the University of Michigan’s exhibit “From Papyri to King James: The Transmission of the English Bible” displays documents that trace the development of the Bible.

These documents, spread across nations, peoples and languages, are written on papyrus, parchment and paper, and are all direct ancestors of the King James Bible and related religious works from about C.E. 119 to C.E. 1611. The exhibit includes fragments from Deuteronomy and Matthew; portions from several of the letters of Paul; writings of early church leaders such as Melito, Bishop of Sardis, and Hermas of Rome; medieval versions of Jerome’s Latin translation of the Bible of C.E. 404; first appearances of the Greek and Latin Biblical texts in print; and early translations into English. Many of the Bibles in the exhibit are opened to the same passage, providing an opportunity to compare translations and to observe the developments in languages, handwriting, and type designs. The exhibit also illustrates the development of the codes, and presents a brief study of 16th-century English political history through the inclusion of the Tyndale, Coverdale, Geneva, Douay, Great, and Bishops’ Bibles.

The exhibition, continuing through Jan. 31, is located on the seventh floor of U-M’s Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library in the Special Collections Library. Admission is free. The exhibition is open Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m.-noon. Call (734) 764-9377 for hours if planning to visit the exhibit between Dec. 20 and Jan. 4.

Guided tours of the exhibit are available for groups by appointment only. For further information about the tours or the exhibition, contact the Special Collections Library at (734) 764-9377 or by e-mail at [email protected].

U-M News and Information ServicesUniversity of Michigan