The Douay-Rheims is the English Catholic Bible translated from the Latin Vulgate by exiles of the English College, chiefly Gregory Martin under William Allen. The New Testament was printed at Rheims in 1582 (The Rheims New Testament (1582)) and the Old Testament at Douay in 1609–1610 (The Douay Old Testament (1609–1610)), each of which has its own room in this library, in its original spelling and with its full annotations. Between 1749 and 1752 Bishop Richard Challoner of the London District revised the whole, easing its Latinate English toward the idiom of his own day and adding his own notes. In this form it was the standard Bible of English-speaking Catholics for about two hundred years.

This room gives the complete Challoner text in Douay order and naming: forty-six books of the Old Testament, with Tobias, Judith, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch and the two books of Machabees in their canonical places, and the twenty-seven books of the New Testament. Every book keeps whatever introduction, chapter summaries and notes Challoner gives it (a few books have no introduction of their own, and Philemon has no notes); the notes follow each chapter, keyed to their verses. Where a Douay name differs from the modern one, the modern name is added: the four books of Kings are 1–2 Samuel and 1–2 Kings, Paralipomenon is Chronicles, and 1–2 Esdras are Ezra and Nehemiah. The Psalms keep the Vulgate numbering.

The transcription also carries early texts in their original spelling, given here as well: the Prayer of Manasses and the third and fourth books of Esdras, which the 1609–1610 Douay printed after the canon; Abdias (1610) and Jude (1582) for comparison with Challoner; part of the 1582 Preface to the Reader; and the 1582 table of hard words.

What is missing or uncertain: the printed base of the transcription is a later edition in the Challoner line, not proven to be the 1749–1752 printing, so the room is called "Challoner revision" rather than dated. Only part of the 1582 preface is present. The seventy verses missing from chapter 7 of the fourth book of Esdras are supplied by the transcriber from a later English version and are marked as such. This is a typed transcription, so nothing is marked illegible, and apart from that Esdras fragment nothing has been filled or conjectured in the Challoner text. In the early-spelling pages the transcriber corrected only obvious errors, replaced characters it could not represent with modern equivalents, and supplied the verse numbers of the Prayer of Manasses from other versions; the colophons of those pages give the transcriber’s own account.

The Title Page

The Holy Bible

Translated from the Latin Vulgate

Diligently Compared with the Hebrew, Greek, and Other Editions in Divers Languages

THE OLD TESTAMENT First Published by the English College at Douay A.D. 1609 & 1610

and

THE NEW TESTAMENT First Published by the English College at Rheims A.D. 1582

With Annotations

The Whole Revised and Diligently Compared with the Latin Vulgate by Bishop Richard Challoner A.D. 1749-1752

Preface

• The Preface to the Reader (Rheims 1582, part)

The Old Testament

• The Book of Genesis
• The Book of Exodus
• The Book of Leviticus
• The Book of Numbers
• The Book of Deuteronomy
• The Book of Josue (Joshua)
• The Book of Judges
• The Book of Ruth
• The First Book of Samuel, otherwise called the First Book of Kings (1 Samuel)
• The Second Book of Samuel, otherwise called the Second Book of Kings (2 Samuel)
• The Third Book of Kings (1 Kings)
• The Fourth Book of Kings (2 Kings)
• The First Book of Paralipomenon (1 Chronicles)
• The Second Book of Paralipomenon (2 Chronicles)
• The First Book of Esdras (Ezra)
• The Book of Nehemias, which is called the Second of Esdras (Nehemiah)
• The Book of Tobias (Tobit)
• The Book of Judith
• The Book of Esther
• The Book of Job
• The Book of Psalms
• The Book of Proverbs
• Ecclesiastes
• Solomon’s Canticle of Canticles (Song of Songs)
• The Book of Wisdom
• Ecclesiasticus (Sirach)
• The Prophecy of Isaias (Isaiah)
• The Prophecy of Jeremias (Jeremiah)
• The Lamentations of Jeremias (Lamentations)
• The Prophecy of Baruch
• The Prophecy of Ezechiel (Ezekiel)
• The Prophecy of Daniel
• The Prophecy of Osee (Hosea)
• The Prophecy of Joel
• The Prophecy of Amos
• The Prophecy of Abdias (Obadiah)
• The Prophecy of Jonas (Jonah)
• The Prophecy of Micheas (Micah)
• The Prophecy of Nahum
• The Prophecy of Habacuc (Habakkuk)
• The Prophecy of Sophonias (Zephaniah)
• The Prophecy of Aggeus (Haggai)
• The Prophecy of Zacharias (Zechariah)
• The Prophecy of Malachias (Malachi)
• The First Book of Machabees (1 Maccabees)
• The Second Book of Machabees (2 Maccabees)

The New Testament

• The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Matthew
• The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to St. Mark
• The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to St. Luke
• The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to St. John
• The Acts of the Apostles
• The Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Romans
• The First Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians
• The Second Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians
• The Epistle of St. Paul to the Galatians
• The Epistle of St. Paul to the Ephesians
• The Epistle of St. Paul to the Philippians
• The Epistle of St. Paul to the Colossians
• The First Epistle of St. Paul to the Thessalonians
• The Second Epistle of St. Paul to the Thessalonians
• The First Epistle of St. Paul to Timothy
• The Second Epistle of St. Paul to Timothy
• The Epistle of St. Paul to Titus
• The Epistle of St. Paul to Philemon
• The Epistle of St. Paul to the Hebrews
• The Catholic Epistle of St. James the Apostle
• The First Epistle of St. Peter the Apostle
• The Second Epistle of St. Peter the Apostle
• The First Epistle of St. John the Apostle
• The Second Epistle of St. John the Apostle
• The Third Epistle of St. John the Apostle
• The Catholic Epistle of St. Jude
• The Apocalypse of St. John the Apostle (Revelation)

Additional Books (Douay, 1609–1610, original spelling)

• The Prayer of Manasses (Prayer of Manasseh)
• The Third Booke of Esdras (1 Esdras)
• The Fovrth Booke of Esdras (2 Esdras)

Books for Comparison (original spelling)

• The Prophecie of Abdias (Douay 1610)
• The Catholike Epistle of Ivde (Rheims 1582)

Supplemental Material

• Hard Vvordes Explicated (Rheims 1582)

🌲