Call Number:

Ms. Coll. 1290

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

0.2 linear_foot (1 box)

Language:

English

Date:

1907 (inclusive)

Creator:

Gregory, Caspar René

Form:

Manuscripts (documents) and Writings (documents)

Abstract:

Caspar René Gregory (1846-1917) was a professor of theology at the University of Leipzig for twenty-five years. This collection contains his handwritten manuscript for Canon and Text of the New Testament, which was published in 1907.

Caspar René Gregory was born in Philadelphia on November 6, 1846, the son of Henry Duval Gregory, who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1838 and taught there from 1838 to 1843. Caspar René Gregory followed in his father's footsteps and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1864. He continued his education at the Theological Seminary of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia from 1865 to 1867, at the Princeton Theological Seminary from 1867 to 1873, and at the University of Leipzig from 1873 to 1876, writing his dissertation on Gregorè the priest and the revolutionist. In 1889, he took a position at the University of Leipzig, serving as professor of theology for twenty-five years.

According to an exhibit relating to Gregory's papers at Harvard University, "as a text critic, [Gregory's] scholarly work was in analyzing the textual variations in the many early manuscripts and early translations of the New Testament in an effort to recreate the original text," and he developed a classification system, Die griechischen Handschriften des Neuen Testaments, that is still in use throughout the scholarly world.

In 1886, Gregory married Lucy Watson Thayer and they were the parents of Lucy, Greenough, Elinor, and Agnes. In addition to his teaching career, Gregory also served as sub-editor of Schürer's Theologishe Literaturzeitung from 1876 to 1885; was an honorary member of the Greek Philogical Syllogos at Constantinople in 1886; and earned honorary degrees from the University of Pennsylvania in 1894, Yale University in 1901, and the University of Glasgow in 1902. When World War I began, Gregory volunteered for service in the German Army and on April 9, 1917, Gregory "fell in battle" (New York Times) and died as a second lieutenant in a field hospital in Neufchâtel-sur-Aisne, France, at the age of 70.

Works Referenced:

Burton, Ernest De Witt. The Biblical World. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1911.

Harvard University. Papers of Caspar René Gregory, finding aid.

Harvard University. Exhibit notes.

New York Times. Killed in War At 70". 1917 April 14. (accessed April 27, 2017).

This collection contains Caspar René Gregory's handwritten manuscript for Canon and Text of the New Testament, which was published in 1907. The manuscript itself is handwritten in tiny neat handwriting and on occasion (particularly, however, on the title, dedication, and contents pages) contains notes to the printer/publisher with instructions on how Gregory would like to see the text displayed. The text is corrected throughout, all in one hand, probably Gregory's, and there are a few pages with fold-out additions hinged on the right side of the paper. The manuscript is 196 pages, including an index and a list of scripture passages.