[Back in February 2020 I (Mac) blogged about Henry Halley’s little Bible handbook.  Since then we received a few copies and I have edited this post to reflect our current holdings.  If you have a copy you would like to donate, please contact me.  We need a nice full shelf of these handbooks.]

Our goal is to build a comprehensive research-level collection that can support a very wide array of research needs in Restoration history and thought.  To that end we aim for fullness in our collections.  And that means we are always on the lookout to fill gaps in the collection.  And that means we are always looking for partners who value this mission.  Many donors over many years built a fine collection.  As we look to further enrich it, we can only do so through the kindness and generosity of partners and who donate materials, ensuring their long-term preservation and availability for research.

One scholar from our past, Henry Halley, had a far-reaching impact on evangelical Bible students through the many editions of his simple Pocket Bible Hand Book.  Halley studied at College of the Bible in Lexington, Kentucky under John William McGarvey and Isaiah Boone Grubbs.  Upon graduation he began a career of preaching and teaching.  His Bible teaching often took the form of intensive seminars in which the Bible was read, studied, and memorized.  Halley’s first edition of his Bible Hand Book consisted of the notes, comments, and supporting material he used in these Bible readings.  Over time he adapted and expanded his work, always with an eye toward making the content of the English Bible more accessible to any who wished to study it.

Halley’s Bible Handbook, New Revised Edition, 1965

Biography of Henry Halley, from the dust jacket of Halley’s Bible Handbook, New Revised Edition, 1965

We have editions from:

By 1980 it reached its 24th edition (and that edition by 1980 reached its 38th printing).  The first edition was a 16-page booklet, and later editions filled out nearly 1000 pages.  This is an astounding publishing record, and we think our collection should more adequately represent the breadth of Halley’s work.  We especially seek early volumes, and the Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Italian, and Greek translations.

Description of Halley’s Bible Handbook, back cover of the New Revised Edition, 1965

Title Page, Halley’s Bible Handbook, New Revised Edition, 1965

Foreword, Halley’s Bible Handbook, New Revised Edition, 1965

Foreword, Halley’s Bible Handbook, New Revised Edition, 1965

Printing History, Halley’s Bible Handbook, New Revised Edition, 1965

Printing History, Halley’s Bible Handbook, New Revised Edition, 1965

Can you help fill in these gaps?  Do you have a copy of one of these many editions we lack, and would you send it to us for the benefit of students and researchers?  Let’s partner together to build a comprehensive research-level collection.  Contact Mac Ice at mac.ice@acu.edu or 325-674-2144.