An American publishing house has signed a contract with an Israeli firm for $512,000, purchasing an entire edition of 20,000 copies of a four-volume work on the Bible published in English in Israel, it was announced here by Jehuda Makavi, president of the Israeli firm International Publishing Co., Ramat Gan, Israel.
The four volumes, entitled “Views of the Biblical World,” represent the first comprehensive attempt yet made to illustrate from contemporary objects the more important passages of the Bible in the order in which they appear in the Scriptural record. The first volume, already in the United States, includes beautiful full color reproductions from Biblical paintings and other objects owned by the great museums of the world, color photos of objects found in excavations in the Holy Land, as well as of ancient stones on which significant Biblical scenes are chiselled.
(Together with maps and drawings, the illustrations appear side by side with the relevant Scriptural text and provide a pictorial commentary on the Scriptures. The illustrations depict, to a large extant, the remains of Biblical towns and fortresses, excavated sites and reconstructed buildings, contemporary dress, domestic customs, religious rites, art and music, agricultural and household scenes, and Biblical personalities from kings to commoners.
The editorial body engaged in this work in Jerusalem is composed of scholars under the chairmanship of Prof, Benjamin Mazar, world-renown archaeologist and president of Hebrew University. “Many of the world’s great Biblical scholars, after viewing some of the texts and Illustrations, have expressed appreciation of the project and emphasized its value to the entire cultural world,” Mr, Makavi declared here.
The American firm which contracted for the entire English edition is the Jordan Publication Inc. of Chicago, of which Jordan Kaizer is president. Sale of “Views of the Biblical World” in the United States will start in about three months. The four-volume work has been published in Hebrew for sale in Israel and will also be published in French, German and Spanish for sale throughout the world, in view of the great interest displayed by many non-Jews and non-Jewish institutions in securing this unique pictorial translation of the Bible accompanied by authentic pictures.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
