REMARKABLE FIGURES.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20280, 14 April 1934, Page 30 (Supplement)

REMARKABLE FIGURES.

Ten Million Bibles Sold in Year. A publishing house in London has confined its activities to issuing only one book in the last 130 years, but it claims the record sale of 442,000,000 copies in that time. In a report issued by the British and Foreign Bible Society it is recorded that Bibles have been circulated to the number of 10,617,470 during the last year—an increase of 6586 over the number circulated m the previous year. When analysed this figure shows that of “ portions ” of the Scriptures—that is to say separate gospels or epistles -- nearly 25,000 fewer copies have been issued than usual. But this has been more than balanced by a rise in the issue of whole Bibles of more than 31,000 and of Testaments of nearly 59,000. New versions of the Scriptures added by the society during the last year numbered twelve —four in Africa, six for Asia, one for America and one (or Europe—these bringing the number of languages used by the society up to In co-operation with the American Bible Society, St Matthew’s Gospel has been issued in the language of the Bulgarian gipsies, who number at 160,000. -The issue is described as “ a genuine new translation for the tinkers and metal-workers.” During the year the entire Bible was issued for the first time in one of the major languages of Africa—Hausa. The Hausa tribe or nation numbers more than 3,000,000, and it dominates the northern provinces of Nigeria. The work of translation has lasted since 1857, when the first gospel was issued. During the year, continues the report, good use has been made of the publication known as the Shi’kng Bible. In 1931 Canada made a gift to the society which enabled the general committee to issue the Bible in English. More than copies have now been published, and of these 817,000 have been sold.