One edition of Studies in the Scriptures that is particularly collectable is the 7th volume The Finished Mystery in its printings from 1927 onward. This was much thinner than previous editions, because half of the original contents were now omitted.
The forward in this
printing is particularly interesting because it only mentions the work of
Pastor Russell and C J Woodworth.
The original full-size
7th volume not only covered the book of Revelation, as compiled by
Clayton J Woodworth, but also the book of Ezekiel as compiled by George H
Fisher. Fisher and Woodworth had been long time friends and worked on the
project in the first half of 1917. Both were imprisoned as part of the Brooklyn
Eight in 1918-1919. However, things changed in the 1920s and Fisher became
distanced from the IBSA. (See the letter J F Rutherford wrote him as reproduced
in full in the Golden Age for March
25, 1925, page 409.)
Fisher died in July 1926 and The New Era Enterprise carried a brief obituary in its issue for August 1926. His work on Ezekiel was now omitted from the 7th volume. However, the whole volume was soon to be replaced by five new books - two on Revelation (Light volumes 1 and 2 in 1930) and three on Ezekiel (Vindication, volumes 1-3 in 1931-1932).
It may be a minor detail, but the 1927 volume 7 also omitted a short commentary on The Song of Solomon. Apparently Fischer was also the one who edited that book. In the 1917 edition, see pages 339-366. (From Benek).
ReplyDeleteThe 1918 "The Revelation of Jesus Christ"-According to the Sinaitict Text with Explanatory Notes and Comments is also worth collecting.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, The Revelation of Jesus Christ is an even greater abbreviation of the Revelation commentary. Someone said that JFR ordered it published in 1918 to get around the ban on the 7th volume. (From Benek)
ReplyDelete