Best Version of Calvin's Institutes

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Sorry Prof. Clark, I hadn't seen your post when I wrote mine. I was responding to an earlier statement about an English translation being a pure text. Hence my reference to ad fontes. Sorry for any confusion.

R. Scott Clark said:
armourbearer said:
Wouldn't Tholuck's Latin edition be the pure text? Ad fontes. For English translations, the 1561 (authorised) version must have some claim on the purists. Nevertheless, I would say Beveridge is best for reliability and Battles for readability and scholarly notes.
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Well, Tholuck's is easier to use but I don't know why a 19th century critical text is more ad fontes than an early 20th century criticial text. The OS has line numbers and that's the edn that most scholars cite most frequently for the '59 Latin text.

If one wants to go ad fontes then one wants to use one of the 16th century editions. I'm not sure it's worth the effort, but Muller argues in his 2000 Calvin volume (a must read) that this is the way Calvin scholars should read Calvin. For most of us that means rolling through microfiche or print outs from fiche readers and the like.

rsc
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greenbaggins said:
Calvin's Institutes went through 5 editions, including immense expansion. The 1536 edition is the first edition, which is considerably smaller than the final edition of 1559.
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Indeed. As such, it can (relatively speaking) somewhat reveal more of Calvin's "young thought." One version (Battles) can be ordered here.
 
The Battles edition is what we are required to read at PRTS and I have been quite happy with it.
 
armourbearer said:
Sorry Prof. Clark, I hadn't seen your post when I wrote mine. I was responding to an earlier statement about an English translation being a pure text. Hence my reference to ad fontes. Sorry for any confusion.

R. Scott Clark said:
armourbearer said:
Wouldn't Tholuck's Latin edition be the pure text? Ad fontes. For English translations, the 1561 (authorised) version must have some claim on the purists. Nevertheless, I would say Beveridge is best for reliability and Battles for readability and scholarly notes.
Click to expand...

Well, Tholuck's is easier to use but I don't know why a 19th century critical text is more ad fontes than an early 20th century criticial text. The OS has line numbers and that's the edn that most scholars cite most frequently for the '59 Latin text.

If one wants to go ad fontes then one wants to use one of the 16th century editions. I'm not sure it's worth the effort, but Muller argues in his 2000 Calvin volume (a must read) that this is the way Calvin scholars should read Calvin. For most of us that means rolling through microfiche or print outs from fiche readers and the like.

rsc
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Got it.

Misunderstood.

Sorry.

rsc
 
I will not get my feelings hurt here (BOO-HOO).....I posted a question (but it got drowned by other post) about a newer edition/translation published around 95? maybe earlier no later I do not know Publisher or anything. I just heard it was very good!:detective:
 
etexas said:
I will not get my feelings hurt here (BOO-HOO).....I posted a question (but it got drowned by other post) about a newer edition/translation published around 95? maybe earlier no later I do not know Publisher or anything. I just heard it was very good!:detective:
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Are you saying that there was a translation published in 1995 other than the Battles or Beveridge editions?

rsc
 
R. Scott Clark said:
etexas said:
I will not get my feelings hurt here (BOO-HOO).....I posted a question (but it got drowned by other post) about a newer edition/translation published around 95? maybe earlier no later I do not know Publisher or anything. I just heard it was very good!:detective:
Click to expand...

Are you saying that there was a translation published in 1995 other than the Battles or Beveridge editions?

rsc
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Frankly I am not sure, remember I am a recovering Anglican;) and am just starting to get into all this!), as far as I know, it could be one of the 2 you mention that may have been updated in the time frame I gave....:candle:
 
CarolinaCalvinist said:
Dieter Schneider said:
You may also like my blog on Calvin, et al. If you are keen you ought to get the 1536 edition; do not forget Battles' excellent analysis. Best wishes.
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Thanks for the link. What do you mean by the 1536 edition? A copy in the original Latin?
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The 1536 edition (see [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Institutes-Christian-Religion-John-Calvin/dp/0802841678/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196293448&sr=1-1"]here[/ame] for purchase of English translation) was Calvin's first one - written in Latin; the 1559 edition was his definite one (1559 ed. is fully developed, but not substantially different - generally speaking, that is). Ford Lewis Battle's [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Analysis-Institutes-Christian-Religion-Calvin/dp/0875521827/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196370816&sr=1-1"]Analysis[/ame] I would have thought is a must!
For an exposition (audio / pdf) click here.
 
For what it's worth, I don't think there have been any new editions of the Institutes published. The Battles edn was reprinted with a new cover some time back. The Beveridge edn comes out sporadically in reprint. I think that's it.

rsc

etexas said:
R. Scott Clark said:
etexas said:
I will not get my feelings hurt here (BOO-HOO).....I posted a question (but it got drowned by other post) about a newer edition/translation published around 95? maybe earlier no later I do not know Publisher or anything. I just heard it was very good!:detective:
Click to expand...

Are you saying that there was a translation published in 1995 other than the Battles or Beveridge editions?

rsc
Click to expand...
Frankly I am not sure, remember I am a recovering Anglican;) and am just starting to get into all this!), as far as I know, it could be one of the 2 you mention that may have been updated in the time frame I gave....:candle:
Click to expand...
 
Did some digging....the edition I was talking about is NOT a "full" Institutes my bad. So, for my first set of IOCR is the Battle edition pretty easy to read?:pilgrim:
 
For those of us who don't mind reading on the computer screen, the VERY inexpensive Calvin Collection by Ages contains BOTH translations by Beveridge AND Battles (as well as practically everything else).
 
Just got my Calvin Battle Edition! I cannot wait to begin reading it! As I stated in another thread I do most of my reding at Night, so 'round about 10:30 or 11 I hope to curl up with some tea for a few hours of reading!:popcorn::up::popcorn::)
 
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UPDATE: I have had a little chance to get into the IOCR Battle Edition, BUT, it is easy to read without being "Cotton Patch Version" and I truly enjoy t, thank you to all who recommended this Edition! By the Bye, David started this Thread and is keeping us in suspense, which edition did you choose Mr. Pell?:popcorn:
 
I recommend this one. Wonderful version. Good, old translation, both volumes in one, AND with original page numbers (see the summary for the details). I love it!



Oh, after I wrote this I saw that there is no summary there aside from the customer reviews. Well, please read those, they are a great help, but what I was referring to with the pages is that the page numbers of both parts are the same as the original edition. When part 1 ends, part 2 begins as a page 1. Just a little thing, but it helps when reading other writers' references to IOTCR.
 
etexas said:
UPDATE: I have had a little chance to get into the IOCR Battle Edition, BUT, it is easy to read without being "Cotton Patch Version" and I truly enjoy t, thank you to all who recommended this Edition! By the Bye, David started this Thread and is keeping us in suspense, which edition did you choose Mr. Pell?:popcorn:
Click to expand...

I didn't actually buy one yet. I was asking for future reference (when I have the $$ to purchase and time to read such a tome).
 
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