On Saturday, December 8, 1821,
the BOSTON RECORDER (Vol. VI, No. 50)
published on its front page:
Translations of the Scriptures. ___
From the London Missionary Register, Sept. 1821. SERAMPORE. BAPTIST MISSIONARY SOCIETY. |
Reprinted for an American audience, this article--originally from the London Missionary Register--details the translation and publication work of the Serampore Trio--William Carey, Joshua Marshman, William Ward--and their pundits.
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The Boston Recorder may have been the first religious newspaper in the world (Evert A. Duyckinck, Cyclopaedia of American Literature, [New York: C. Scribner, 1856]). Boston Recorder was edited and published by Nathaniel Willis, the father of Nathaniel Parker Willis (1806-1867), a famous American poet. To view this reference, click here for a reproduction of the Duyckinck text at the University of Virginia (scroll down to the third paragraph).
Relying on the Boston Recorder article, the following lists indicate the languages and the sections into which Carey and his colleagues translated and published the Christian scriptures:
Old and New Testaments translated and published:
1. Bengalee (sixth edition in preparation)
2. Sanscrit (second edition in press)
3. Hindee (second edition in preparation, including Rev. John Chamberlain's
translation of the New Testament)
4. Orissa (second edition in the press)
5. Mahratta (second edition in the preparation)
New Testament (and some portions of the Old Testament) translated and published:
1. Chinese
2. Shikh
3. Pushtoo, or Affghan
4. Telinga, or Teloogoo
5. Kunkuna
6. Wook, or Mootanee
7. Assam
8. Gujuratee
9. Bikaneer
10. Kushmeer
New Testament translated, and "more than half through the press" as of September, 1821:
1. Kurnata
2. Nepel
3. Harotee
4. Marwar
5. Bhughulkund
6. Oojein
New Testament translated and ready for publication, September, 1821:
1. Jumboo, printed to John
2. Kenouj, printed to John
3. Khassee, printed to John
4. Khaoul, printed to Mark
5. Bhutuneer, printed to Mark
6. Dogura, or Palpa, printed to Mark
7. Magudha, printed to Mark
8. Kumcoon, printed to Matthew
9. Gudwal, printed to Matthew
10. Muni-poora, printed to Matthew
Created: December 12, 2000 Updated: September 7, 2001