Politics of the Revised Version

"Alan Cadwallader examines how the revision of the Authorized Version (that ran from 1870 until its published release in 1881 and 1885) generated one of the most bitter instances of the political interests involved in the translation of a sacred book. Cadwallader shows how a public avowal of unity and fraternal harmony that characterized the public release and marketing of the New Testament revision in 1881 and the Old Testament revision in 1885 masks a tense historical reality that has not previously been reconstructed. Through a thorough sifting of private correspondence, notebooks kept by some of the members of the New Testament Revision Company in England and the United States, and other primary sources previously left dormant, Cadwallader examines and presents the political situation that surrounded the translation. He exposes relations between an imperial, sovereign nation and the position of an Established Church; the aspirations and authenticity of denominations within a nation; the competitive tensions of national and international prestige and responsibility; and the ultimate control exercised by publishing houses that fundamentally flawed the process of revision and the public acceptance of the final product."--Bloomsbury Publishing

Alan Cadwallader explores the intricate tensions and conflicts that infused the work of revision of the Authorised Version of the Bible between 1870 and 1885. The Promethean aspirations of the venture actually generated one of the most bitter instances of the political manoeuvres involved in the translation of a sacred book. Cadwallader reveals how the public avowal of unity and fraternal harmony that accompanied the public release and marketing of the New Testament revision in 1881 and the Old Testament revision in 1885, masks fraught historical realities that threatened the realization of the project from the beginning. Through a thorough examination of private correspondence, notebooks kept by various members of the New Testament Revision Companies in England and the United States, and other previously unstudied primary sources, Cadwallader examines and presents the complexities of the political situation surrounding the translation. He exposes the competing interests of an imperial, sovereign nation and a seriously divided Established Church floundering over its continued relevance; the ambitions and significance of Nonconformity in a nation's highly contested religious environment; the agonistic conflicts that erupted from assertions of national and international prestige and responsibilities; and the ultimate control exercised by publishing houses that fundamentally flawed the process of revision and the public acceptance of the final product