The Edgar J. Goodspeed Collection | Denison University Special Collections

Scope and Contents: Edgar Goodspeed, class of 1890, was a Denison alumnus and benefactor who donated his personal collection of rare Bibles, and books related to Bible scholarship. Goodspeed was the first American to publish translations of Greek papyri, and was an internationally-known scholar of the Old and especially the New, Testaments. He published numerous books and articles; knew Hebrew, Arabic and several other languages; and spent most of his career at the University of Chicago Divinity School.  He also served on the committee that revised the American Standard Version of the Bible. The collection includes editions of the Bible in a number of languages, including Greek, German, Italian and Irish; Bible histories and commentaries; rare,early Bibles; the 1952 set of the Interpreter's Bible; a number of Goodspeed's own works; the Koran; and more.