Interesting Marketing Ploy...

Having been seriously hacked off by the revelation that the various modern translations of the Bible haven't just updated the English but have severely mangled the meanings in the process, I decided to get myself a copy of the Douay-Rheims Bible. If you missed my anguished cries on the subject, you can read them again HERE.

I was informed that this was the original English translation of the Vulgate, and as such would give the meanings of the Scriptural texts as understood by my favourite Saints.

I looked up Douay Rheims on Amazon, but balked at paying over £40 for a Bible (yes, ok, I'm a skinflint... but it would cost less to download it from the Internet and print it myself!)

I decided to give Abe Books a go. Ignoramus that I am, I was slightly confused by the apparent variety of Douay-Rheims Bibles on offer, and had to check with my PP to ensure that one revised by Bishop Challoner was ok...

...well, I didn't know that Bishop Challoner did his revisions circa 1749! It could have been some dreadful modernist version... (I did say I was an ignoramus!)

I finally plumped for a Bible published by TAN (usually a safe bet on the orthodoxy front), encouraged by the fact that it was supplied by a bookseller in the UK... and once I decide I want a book, I really want that book, like yesterday... or sooner.

It arrived today (one of my neighbours kindly accepted it from the postman in my absence.) I am not really enamoured of the cover (shiny black card - standard paperback thickness) and I have doubts about the staying power of the binding, but the text is in a good size font, and each verse is on a new line, so it's great for checking references.

Most books have some sort of blurb by the publisher on the back cover. In this case, the blurb was actually on a separate piece of paper folded over the back cover (the cover itself was identical to the front.)

Just for once, the publisher's blurb made for entertaining reading: I include just a few points for your edification...

The Douay-Rheims Bible is the only traditional Catholic Bible in the English language.

The Douay-Rheims Bible was the only Catholic English translation of Scripture commonly in use for over 200 years.

We maintain this is the best, safest, and most accurate translation of the Bible in English.

The Douay-Rheims Bible is so packed with meaning that a single phrase can yield profound insight - because it was translated with great respect for every word.

And my personal favourites: (emphasis and punctuation as provided by the publishers!)

The footnotes in the Douay-Rheims Bible are totally Catholic and are definitely not the opinions of modern biblical scholars.

No inclusive language!

Priceless!!