This month’s 30-Day Display features The Panorama, the first and only yearbook of the Candler School of Theology. Published in 1915, The Panorama documents Candler professors and students in the 1914-1915 academic year, including group photos of student clubs, as well as student artwork, quotes, and poetry. One of the most entertaining sketches appears on the Senior Class page. It depicts a large cathedral with the text ‘A Dream,’ standing in contrast to a ramshackle, one-room church with the text ‘A Reality.’ Similar light-hearted jokes still occur between students as they consider their futures in ordained ministry and receive church appointments, connecting them to their peers from over a century ago.
The Panorama also contains the story of the “Million Dollar Letter,” written by Asa Griggs Candler (1851-1929), a Coca-Cola executive. In the letter, Candler promises $1 million to endow the founding of the University. The Candler School of Theology was named for Candler’s younger brother, Warren Akin Candler (1857-1941), a Methodist bishop and chancellor of Emory University. From that initial endowment, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, established the Candler School of Theology in 1914. The founding of the School of Theology occurred just before Emory University was chartered in 1915, bringing together Emory College in Oxford with the School of Theology as its first professional school. Construction on the current Druid Hills campus also began that year, starting with the School of Theology building (now Emory’s Convocation Hall).
Come see The Panorama in the library’s 30-Day Display case on the second floor. Once it is removed from display, researchers can request this volume online for viewing in Special Collections.
The staff at Pitts Theology Library congratulate and wish all the best to the Class of 2024!
Professor Andrew Pettegree will lecture on “Book History’s New Frontier and the Perils of Big Data”
Pitts Theology Library is excited to welcomeProfessor Andrew Pettegree, of the University of St. Andrews, to give the Spring “Table Talk” keynote lecture, “Book History’s New Frontier and the Perils of Big Data,” on Thursday, April 11th at 5:30pm in Emory’s Cannon Chapel. Dr. Pettegree is one of the leading voices in the study of the history of the book and a world-renowned cultural historian of the early modern period. The lecture is at 5:30pm in Emory’s Cannon Chapel, but the library invites all to come as early as 3:30pm that day to tour the library’s exhibition and learn about updates to the library’s Richard C. Kessler Reformation Collection. All events are free and open to the public, but registration is required: http://pitts.tl/kessler2024. The event will be livestreamed, and the link for the livestream will be sent to those who register in advance. A schedule of the afternoon’s events is below:
3:30pm-4:30pm: Registration and Exhibition Tours (Pitts Theology Library) 4:30pm-5:15pm: Kessler Collection Updates from the Library Director (Pitts Theology Library) 5:30pm-6:30pm: Keynote Address (Cannon Chapel) 6:30pm-7:30pm: Reception (Candler School of Theology Atrium and Plaza)
The Great Bible was the first authorized translation of the Bible into English. First published in 1539 at the initiative of Thomas Cromwell and authorized by King Henry VIII, it preceded the King James Version by over 70 years. Queen Mary, Henry’s eldest daughter, reversed many of the Protestant reforms institutionalized in England during the reign of Henry and that of her immediate predecessor on the English throne, Edward VI. It was not until the reign of Elizabeth I that publication of the Great Bible resumed.
The 1562 printing of the Great Bible in the J. Michael Morgan English Bible & Psalmody Collection is remarkable for a number of reasons. Its current binding in full morocco with gilt covers and spine was done in the 19th century by Tuskett, royal binder to Queen Victoria. The title page woodcut is based on Lucas Cranach’s Allegory of Law and Grace, familiar from many German Luther Bibles. Finally, it is perhaps noteworthy that the recent re-authorization of this translation did not prevent the printer of this edition, Richard Harrison, from being fined for printing it without a license.
Dozens of treasures from the Morgan Collection are featured in our current exhibition “The Very Meanest Translation: Reading, Revising, and Replacing the King James Bible in America,” open until December 2023 and available as a virtual tour. The gallery is open to visitors during all of the library’s open hours (visit pitts.tl/hours for complete information).
By Armin Siedlecki, Head of Cataloging and Rare Book Cataloger
The Morgan Collection includes many firsts, such as the Leeser Bible—the first complete American Jewish translation of the Hebrew Bible (Christian Old Testament). Its translator, Isaac Leeser (1806-1868) immigrated to the United States from Germany in 1824 and became one of the most influential Jewish-American figures of the 19th century. Since most Jews at the time were not able to read Hebrew fluently, they would encounter the biblical text in the form of the King James Bible. Leeser’s translation, therefore, was based on the Masoretic text and guided by traditional Rabbinic commentators, became the standard Jewish Bible until well into the 20th century. Leeser notes his aim in the preface, “to present to my fellow Israelites an English version, made by one of themselves,” adding further the hope that “they will have now an opportunity to study a version of the Bible which has not been made by the authority of churches in which they can have no confidence.”
1853 BIBL K (The twenty-four books of the Holy Scriptures [Philadelphia: L. Johnson, 1853])
The Pitts copy contains the inscribed family records of the Wise family, a Jewish family in Pennsylvania, covering the period of 1873 to 1979.
This item and dozens of other treasures from the J. Michael Morgan English Bible & Psalmody Collection are featured in our current exhibition “The Very Meanest Translation: Reading, Revising, and Replacing the King James Bible in America,” open until December 2023. The gallery is open to visitors during all of the library’s open hours (visit pitts.tl/hours for complete information).
By Armin Siedlecki, Head of Cataloging and Rare Book Cataloger
Pitts Publishes the 57th Issue of Reformation Notes
Pitts Theology Library proudly announces the release the newest issue of Reformation Notes, a newsletter for partners of the library’s Richard C. Kessler Reformation Collection. This annual publication details the activities surrounding the Kessler Collection, North America’s premier collection documenting the religious and cultural reforms in Europe in the 16th century. The current issue highlights new acquisitions and serves as an invitation for a Fall full of academic programming. Reformation Notes can be read online at http://pitts.emory.edu/reformationnotes, and print copies can be requested by emailing theologyref@emory.edu.
A Fall Full of Programming for the Richard C. Kessler Reformation Collection
This Fall, all are invited to join Pitts Theology Library and distinguished guests for a series of in-person and virtual events around the Richard C. Kessler Reformation Collection.
Kessler Conversations
On the first Wednesday of each month, Pitts will host a virtual conversation with a leading scholar of the Protestant Reformation, exploring the relevance of the 16th century for communities in the 21st. This semester is entitled “Martin Luther’s Bible,” and will be a series of conversations about Martin Luther’s translation of the New Testament in German. Each month, our guests will look at a different aspect of this monumental publication. Attendance online is free, but registration is required.
On September 7th, we will learn from Dr. Euan Cameron, Henry Luce III Professor of Reformation Church History at Union Theological Seminary. Dr. Cameron’s conversation, “The Distinctiveness of the Luther New Testament of 1522″ will look at how Luther used Erasmus’ Greek and Latin New Testament of 1519 as his source and how Luther’s German differed from those that came before him.
On October 6th, our guest will be Dr. G. Sujin Pak, Dean and Professor of the History of Christianity at Boston University’s School of Theology. Dr. Pak’s conversation is titled “Martin Luther as a Reader of Scripture and Insights for Today,” and she will introduce us to Luther’s exegetical method and what contemporary readers of Scripture can learn from the way Luther presents his theology in his translation.
Our final conversation of the Fall, on November 2nd, will be with Dr. Armin Siedlecki, Pitts Theology Library’s Head of Cataloging and Rare Book Cataloger. In his conversation, “’Let Anyone Who Would Hear God Speak Read Holy Scripture’: Luther’s Translation After 500 Years,” Dr. Siedlecki will speak as the curator of Pitt’s Fall exhibition on Luther’s September Testament, helping us understand the curatorial decisions he has made.
The Kessler Conversations fulfill part of the Kessler Collection’s mission, which is not only to collect materials from the 16th century, but to create learning opportunities for the general public to consider why such materials are important for today. This Fall will be the 5th semester of Kessler Conversations, and Drs. Cameron, Pak, and Siedlecki will be our 13th, 14th, and 15th scholars to join us. We encourage you to watch all the past conversations at http://pitts.emory.edu/kesslerconversations and contact us about topics you would like to see covered.
Fall Exhibition of Martin Luther’s September Testament
Lucas Cranach’s calligraphy on the title page of the September Testament
The Kessler Collection recently acquired its 4,000th item, but there is one book that stands above the rest in terms of its significance- Luther’s “September Testament.” This first edition of Martin Luther’s translation of the New Testament from Greek (using Erasmus’s 1519 Greek New Testament, which we own!) to German was a landmark accomplishment, both in terms of the development of the vernacular Bible but also in terms of the development of a modern German language. It was also a landmark acquisition for the Kessler Collection in the early 1990s. We are excited to place it on exhibition this Fall, alongside other significant works that help define the context out of which Luther produced the translation and the major impact it has had on religious communities around the world. Dr. Armin Siedlecki has curated this Fall’s exhibition: “So That It Pierces and Rings Through the Heart”:Martin Luther’s September Testament and 500 Years of Bible Translation. Alongside the Kessler Collection’s copy of the September Testament will be dozens of other works from Catholic and Protestant traditions, which show the development of vernacular Bible translations throughout the centuries. The exhibition will open the first week of September, the 500th anniversary of Luther’s publication! Visitors are welcome in the gallery any time the library is open.
A New Tradition: An Evening with the Kessler Collection
Dr. Timothy Wengert
This year’s signature event will be an evening Emory’s Convocation Hall, where guests will get an intimate look at the work of the Kessler Collection and learn from one of the world’s foremost scholars of the Reformation. This new evening event, on Wednesday, October 26th, will be an opportunity to celebrate the 35 years of building this collection of more than 4,000 items and to renew support to continue to grow the collection. Guests will be treated to an interactive cocktail hour, where they will get hands on experience with the Kessler Collection. They will then share a meal together, which will feature musical performances and updates about the collection. The highlight of the evening will be a lecture from Dr. Timothy Wengert, Emeritus Professor of Church History at United Lutheran Seminary and a longtime supporter of the Kessler Collection. His lecture is titled “Martin Luther’s Great Surprise: Translating the New Testament, 1522-2022.” We hope you will join us not only to learn from this great scholar, but to meet others who support this world-renowned collection and are dedicated to growing its impact for the church and academy around the world.
