By way of supplement, we give the present status of existing Bible societies according to the latest returns:
1. The number of Bible societies connected with the British and Foreign Bible Society was in 1890 —
In Great Britain and Ireland — auxiliaries, 1113; branches, 446; associations, 5417 — total, 6976.
In Europe and the Colonies — auxiliaries, 110; branches, 1220 — total, 1330.
The Societies' Foreign Agencies, with the amount of their issues, are chronologically arranged as follows:
Name of Agency
Date of Formation
Copies:
Depot in Paris
1820
7, 963, 629
St. Petersburg
1828
5, 033, 170
Frankfort
1830
Cologne
1847
13, 820, 801
Berlin
1853
Stockholm
1832
2, 943, 899
Norway
1832.
781, 926
Brussels
1835
800, 571
Amsterdam
1843
1, 363, 296
Copenhagen
1855
840, 751
Rome, Leghorn, etc
1860
1, 575, 694
Lisbon
1864
165, 486
Madrid
1868
1, 231, 393
Venice
1880
3, 491, 949
Total
40, 012, 265
The Societies in British India directly connected with the British and
Foreign Bible Society, with their issues, are as follows: Bible Society
Date of Formation
Copies
Calentta
1811
231390
Colombo
1812
145630
Bombay
1813
650316
Madras
1820
3869460
Jaffna
1835
181029
North India
1845
706366
Punjab at Lahore
?
339729
Bangalore
?
120613
Sermapore Mission
?
200000
Total
8534533
2. The Foreign Societies engaged in distributing the Holy Scriptures are the following:
A. EUROPE
Name of Bible Society
Date of Formation
Copies
Basle Bible Society
1804
777,512
Prussian Bible Society at Berlin
1805
5,239,258
Swedish Bible Society
1809
1,055,507
Finnish Bible Society at Abo
1812
239,273
Wurtemberg Bible Society
1812
1,779,116
Zurich Bible Society
1812
82,972
Russian Bible Soc. at St. Petersburg
1812
861,105
Berg Bible Society at Elberfeld
1813
847,359
St. Gall Bible Society
1813
77,660
Coire Bible Society
1813
12,267
Schaffhansen Bible Society
1813
30,077
Geneva Bible Society
1814
147,232
Lausanne Bible Society
1814
226,667
Saxon Bible Society
1814
745,066
Hanover Bible Society
1814
137,008
Hamburg-Altona Bible Society
1814
184,287
Lubeck Bible Society
1814
30,083
Danish Bible Society
1814
376,950
Strasburg Bible Society
1815
119,214
Icelandic Bible Society
1815
10,445
Netherlands Bible Society
1815
1,728,227
Schleswig-Holstein Bible Society
1815
183,911
Bremen Bible Society
1815
80,637
Brunswick Bible Society
1815
6,312
Aargovian Bible Society
1815
48,229
Waldensian Bible Society at La Tour
1816
4,238
Neufchatel Bible Society
1816
37,043
Frankfort Bible Society
1816
75,000
Lippe-Detmold Bible Society
1816
37,199
Lauenberg-Raizeburg Bible Society
1816
29,319
Rostock Bible Society
1816
19,408
Norwegian Bible Society
1816
457,188
Entin Bible Society
1817
15,000
Waldeck and Pyrmont Bible Society
1817
2,800
Hesse-Darmstadt Bible Society
1817
31,484
Eisenach B.C.
1818
15,081
Hanau
1818
3,316
Hesse-Cassel
1818
30,000
Protestant Bible Society at Paris
1818
575,074
Glarus Bible Society
1819
5,000
Ionian B.C.
1819
7,377
Baden B.C.
1820
83,759
Bavarian Prot. Bible Ins. At Nuremburg
1821
376,119
Anhalt-Bernburg Bible Society
1821
4,786
Weimar Bible Society
1821
7,236
Marburg Bible Society
1825
23,544
Russian Protestant Bible Society
1826
865,823
Stavanger Bible Society
1828
7,017
French and Foreign Bible Society at Paris
1833
750,000
Belgian and Foreign Bible Society
1834
7,623
Autwerp Bible Society
1834
439
Ghent Bible Society
1834
8,980
Anhalt-Dessau Bible Society
1836
27,899
Belgian Bible Society
1839
14,909
Leipsic Bible Society
1840
34,942
Bible Society of France
1864
217,459
Total
19,059,076
B. AMERICA
Name of Bible Society
Date
Copies
Pennsylvania
1808
3763371
American
1817
49829563
Bible Assoc. of Friends in America
1830
127470
American and Foriegn Bible Society
1837
786696
American Bible Union
1850
603184
Total
55110284
The British and Foreign Bible Society has promoted the translation, printing, or distribution of the whole or part of the bible, directly in 225 languages or dialects, indirectly in 65 ditto — total, 290.
At present there exist about 364 versions of the Bible; more than four fifths of this number have been prepared since 1804. See, besides the annual reports of the different Bible societies, also the art. “Bible, Propagation de la,” in Lichtenberger's.Encyclopedie des Sciences Religieuses; Reed, The Bible Work of the World (Lond. 1879); Bible of Every Land (ibid. 1860). (B.P.).
