I) A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, edited by Philip Schaff (HC, 1886, binding and covers are in rough shape but the pages are fine, 13 volumes of a 14 volume set, $35, which is 1/3 the internet price.)
The volume we are missing is #9.
The 1800s must have been an interesting time. First, Oxford's English Episcopalians published their Ante-Nicene Fathers in the 1840s. The Presbyterian Scots of Edinburgh later fired back with their own translation. Meanwhile, in Germany, the Roman Catholics had finished another version. The American one ended up almost identical to the one from Scotland. The story of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers translation followed pretty much the same course.
We of the internet age really can't understand how great an advance these books were. Before this a minister who wanted to read these classics had not only be able to read ecclesiastical Greek and Latin, but also to have access to a massive number of expensive books. Migne's Latin Patrology alone contained 222 volumes, and his Latin one "only" 167!
I loved reading the editorial comments on the earlier Episcopalian version- "incomplete and unequal". I was also impressed that Schaff had invited translators of other versions to "revise and edit" their earlier work. Some agreed, but some only "expressed their kindly interest in the enterprise". Of those in the latter category, the most famous was Dr. Newman, who had been Anglican when he translated for the Oxford edition, but had now become a Roman Catholic Cardinal!
Also, the editor's comments on price made me realize how much we take cheap books for granted. Before these books were published, the editors must have done a lot of planning to make sure the price was low enough for some ministers to buy, and yet of good enough quality that they would last. And last they have. More than a hundred years later, and even after hard use (we hope) in a college library, its pages are still in great shape.
2) A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, second series, translated into English with Prolegomena and explanatory notes, edited by Philip Schaff (HC, various volumes from both the 1950s and 1960s editions, $4 each)
We are missing volumes I and II completely.
We have books from both editions of volumes V and VI.
The rest of the volumes we have in just one edition (III, IV, and VII through XIV).
Look for these books in boxes on the floor of the religion room. Volume I of the 1886 edition, and Volume III of the latter one, are on top of the box, so you can check them out without having to move boxes.
