THE WORLD'S BIBLES.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1561, 3 October 1912, Page 7

THE WORLD'S BIBLES.

A RECORD YEAR, The annual, report of the British and Foreign Bible Society, issued on August 12, shows that the past year was a record, one. The main statistics of 'distribution were these: — Bibles sold !)(18,377 New Testaments 1,f>84,2(12 Portions *.BJI,BB+ That is, during the twelve months 7,304.523 copies of the Scriotures were circulated, compared with G,975,85C copies last year, and G,(120,(K-f in the year preceding. With regard to finnnce, payments were made out of the general fund of X 123.881 for translation, revision, printing, and binding work, and •£150,722 for grant?, home and foreign agencies, colportnjc depots, etc. This was an increase of «f2o.. r )08 over last year's total. Receipts for the year amounted to .-C358.010—JJ153.7-14 from income, and ilo4,2Gfi from silos—an increase of .£15.002 on the total in 1010-11. Of the books circulated 150,000 copies were among the Tiatin Continental, nation?, more than 700,000 among tlio German and Slav peoples of Central Europe, 553,000 in the Russian Empire, more than 200,000 in Africa, 270,000 in South and Central America, and 210,000 in Canada. Among the. populations of Asia more than (100,000 books were circulated in the Indian Empire, and 1,650,000 in China, notwithstanding the revolution. Both tlie c o totals exceeded all previous Tocords. Of tin year's issues more than a million nnd a half volumes were in English or Welsh, mainly for readers in the British Emnire—2Bo.ooo volumes in advance of the figures for 1010-11. Finally, since its foundation in 1604. the Bible Societv has issued over 2.K!iOO,000 copies <if Hi" .Sfirtuhires, of which more than 86,000,000 have been in English.