The Bible Reader's Encyclopaedia and Concordance (W. M. Clow)

W. M. Clow, The Bible Reader's Encyclopedia and Concordance. Based on the Bible Reader's Manual by Rev. C. H. Wright, D.D. Under One Alphabetical Arrangement. London: Collins, 1962.

Limp boards, 20.5 x 14 cm, 407 pages, text illustrations in line, colour plates, maps of the Holy Land, etc., at the end.

Gift inscription on the inside front free endpaper, ownership hand-stamp on the first blank (a Grahamstown cleric).

The Bible Reader's Encyclopedia and Concordance is a substantial one-volume biblical reference work designed to serve both as an encyclopaedia and as a concordance to the Bible. Based on The Bible Reader's Manual by the distinguished biblical scholar Charles Henry Hamilton Wright and revised under the editorship of William Maccallum Clow, the book brings together explanatory articles on biblical people, places, events, doctrines, and customs under a single alphabetical arrangement, alongside a comprehensive concordance. The 1962 Collins edition comprises more than 400 pages and includes illustrations, maps, and a biblical gazetteer, making it a practical reference tool for clergy, teachers, students, and general readers of Scripture.

The work remains a useful and accessible guide to the traditional understanding of the Bible. Its chief strength lies in its convenience: instead of consulting separate dictionaries, encyclopaedias, atlases, and concordances, readers can find a great deal of information in a single compact volume. Written in a clear and non-technical style, it reflects the conservative Protestant scholarship of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and is best appreciated today as both a practical devotional aid and a representative example of an earlier generation of biblical reference publishing. For collectors of religious books, ministers, and readers interested in the history of biblical study, it remains an attractive and worthwhile reference work.

Very good condition.