Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 15.djvu/582

 VTJLGATE

520

VULGATE

notice is a portion of a fine Spanish MS. of large size. This, which contained the whole of the Gospel of St. John, had been torn out of a volume in such a way that several fragments of the Gospel of St. Luke had been left on torn leaves of fine parchment. The Commission has endeavoured in vain to locate the rest of the text from which this excellent Visigothic frag- ment had been so ruthlessly torn away.

The Commission has frequently been asked how the large ex-penses of its work are provided. It is obvious that the cost of printing the text of the Clementine Bible, as well as for gathering the ;colla- tions, was not inconsiderable, especially as a part of the print was upon the best hand-made paper, to pro\'ide against the cliance of loss through perisha- biUty of a paper of inferior quaUty. The photo- graphic apparatus was also a great initial expense, and although the photographs are taken at the smallest possible cost, the production of entire Bibles comes to a very large sum. Besides this there is the cost of mounting and binding the photographs

in volumes, besides the binding of the volumes of completed collations. This may be called the mechanical side of the work. The work of research and collation is of course done gratuitously, but the journeys necessary for making proper researches in the libraries of Europe and the support of the scholars engaged in the work must be paid for.

To meet these expenses Pius X charged the present writer to make an appeal to the generosity of Cath- ohcs and others throughout the world. He thought that the need of some such revision of the Latin text of the Holy Scriptures was so obvious that the funds would be provided by the generously disposed. From the first the Pope declared that he would be responsible in the last resort; but so far the gen- erosity of the faithful, particularly in America, has enabled the writer to find the money requisite to keep the work going after the pope had met the initial expense of printing the text for the col- lations.

Francis A. Gasquet.