Cotton Mather’s holograph manuscript of “Biblia American” (MHS), bound in 6 folio volumes, consists of c. 4,500 ms pages of different paper stocks, which he filled with his commentaries over a period of more than 30 years. Unfortunately, the binding of the manuscript volumes has disintegrated, and each volume now consists of several fascicles poorly sewn and loosely held together with course twine. The manuscript is in rather good condition, even though some lines or words of text are either obscured through occasional heavy foxing or completely lost through wear and tear along the edges. The vast majority of its folio pages consist of conjugate leaves still connected; but Mather also tore out many ms pages (its stubs generally remaining in the gutter of the binding) and inserted or interleaved hundreds of smaller ms pages and paper cutouts ranging in height from 130 mm to 350 mm and in width from 60 mm to 200 mm. Notwithstanding these insertions and alterations, Mather did not fill each column of his recto and verso pages with his commentary; in fact, he left blank many columns, half or quarter pages--even entire pages--to be filled with later additions or to allow for corrections as he went along.

          In establishing a critical edition of Mather’s magnum opus, I have followed G. Thomas Tanselle’s recommendations in Textual Criticism and Scholarly Editing. (Charlottesville and London: UP of Virginia, for the Bibliographical Society of the University of Virginia, 1990). Subsequent editorial guidelines are informed by Tanselle’s perceptive criticism and have been rigorously enforced in the transcription and vetting processes.¹ The typescript for Genesis through Deuteronomy (established by myself) has been collated four times: thrice by collating the typescript and the microfilm copyflow, and once by an on-site collation of typescript and holograph manuscript at the MHS (Summer 2001). Over the past four years, several graduate students have assisted me during the collating process by reading aloud the typescript while I compared their reading against the microfilm copyflow during two separate vetting procedures.

1.       To facilitate a permanent pagination for the entire holograph manuscript, I have introduced in brackets a continuous foliation for each leaf and inserted cutout (no matter its size); the recto and verso of each are indicated by r or v appended to the page number. Thus Mather’s commentary on the book of Genesis begins with [1r] and ends with [477v]. Bracketed page numbers in the typescript signal the beginning of a new ms page.

2.       I have inserted in the typescript in the location specified by Mather all of his marginal and interlinear interpolations, which he designates with single, double, or triple carets, with pound signs (##) or other distinguishing marks (aa, oo, **, etc.). However, to provide a clean published text unencumbered with literally thousands (!) of editorial symbols, cancellations, and intrusions, I have chosen to make the corrections in the text as Mather intended them for the press--without recording his symbols or cancellations in a separate appendix. A footnote will draw attention to all ambiguous cases; the projected online or CD-rom editions will juxtapose transcription and holograph manuscript in parallel columns.

 3.       Mather cancels punctuation marks, letters, words, sentences, paragraphs, and entire pages for a number of reasons: to search for a more precise word during his rapid composing or copying process; to replace one quotation with another; to excise names, titles, places, dates, and figures about whose accuracy he is in doubt, or whose anonymity he decides to preserve, or whose hermeneutic relevance is superseded by new material; to correct spelling and capitalization; to cancel false starts; to revise punctuation and upper- and lowercasing of letters or words as necessitated by interpolations or cancellations; to emphasize or de-emphasize specific words; and to restore matter obliterated or otherwise obscured by ink spots, smudges, or unevenness of paper quality. All told, Mather’s cancellations are so numerous that recording them in a genetic text would seriously impede comprehension of Mather’s argument. Similar reasons lead me to believe that little is to be gained by chronicling Mather’s cancellations in a separate appendix. Such an appendix would unnecessarily bloat the size and expense of each volume while diminishing its returns—let alone its usefulness in repositioning his canceled matter in the clean text. However, if Mather cancels existing matter because his hermeneutic or ideological position has changed, I have printed these passages in a discussion footnote and marked their original position in the text. For all other cancellations not reproduced in footnotes, readers should consult Mather’s holograph ms at the Massachusetts Historical Society, turn to the readily available microfilm copies of the Mather Family Papers, or wait until the searchable online or CD-rom editions become available.

      Generally, Mather cancels matter by drawing a thick wavy line through the passage or corrects his spelling or syntax by writing over (i.e., in the same place as) existing words. Deciphering and reconstructing these excisions or corrections proved fairly easy. But when he wants to be sure that a passage cannot be deciphered, he obliterates it by repeatedly drawing a wavy line through the excision, by erasing or even smudging it.

        I have used the following symbols wherever words have been permanently lost through defacement, illegibility, or mutilation:

[*], [**] to indicate the loss of, one or more words by Mather’s defacement.

[* illeg.], [** illeg.] to indicate the loss of one or more words through illegibility             of Mather’s paleography.

[* torn], [** torn] to indicate the loss of one or more words by mutilation.

If a lost or missing word can be inferred with reasonable certainty, the inferred reconstruction is rendered in braces {  }. If subject to conjecture, however, the reconstruction is followed by a question mark and rendered in braces {  ?}.

 4.       Mather’s use of abbreviations and contractions provides no hardship for scholars of the period. Even general readers unfamiliar with the conventions of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries should experience few problems in that respect. But since Mather intended “Biblia Americana” for the press, I have silently expanded all those contractions and abbreviations that an early eighteenth-century typesetter would generally have spelled out. I have here reconstructed the principles used by Thomas Parkhurst, printer and publisher of Cotton Mather’s 1702 London edition of Magnalia Christi Americana, available in a facsimile imprint by Arno Press (1972):

          y^t    =     that          y^e             =   the                        y^m     =      them

          y^r    =     their        o^r              =   our                       w^th    =      with

         w^ch  =     which     wherew^th  =  wherewith         aforesd. =      aforesaid

However, all of Mather’s abbreviations that coincide with modern conventions such as Cap^t (Captain), M^r (Master/Mister), M (French: Monsieur), D^r (Doctor), & (ampersand), &c. (etc.), or tho’ (though) have been rendered Capt., Mr., M., Dr., or retained as &, &c. or tho’ as evidenced in Parkhurst’s 1702 London imprint.

5.       While Mather generally distinguishes between the minuscules i and j in his quotations from Latin sources (Latin not discriminating between I and J, and u and v), he did not do so for the majuscules I and J, which Mather renders J with very few exceptions. Since no misreading is really possible here, I have retained Mather’s archaic conventions wherever applicable. His long-tailed minuscule ∫, commonly represented by the lowercase s, is somewhat more problematic, for Mather uses both ∫ and s interchangeably. Thus both ∫hould and should and po∫∫ession and possession can be found; I have silently adopted the modern lower cases throughout.

6.       Following homiletic tradition for oral delivery, Mather underscores an unusual number of words or phrases with single or double underlining to emphasize key terms and concepts and to signal quotations. Again, I have followed the conventions of Mather’s eighteenth-century publisher (still applicable today) and rendered a passage underscored by a single line in italics and that by a double line in SMALL CAPITALS.

7.       Even though Mather’s spelling is remarkably consistent and, by the standard of his peers, remarkably modern, occasional inconsistencies do occur when he copies from his primary sources. If his particular spelling does not give rise to any confusion, I have retained his variant. For instance, he renders foretell as either foretel or fortell, and consistently spells carcass as carcase, or thoroughly as throughly. Since no misunderstanding seems possible, I have retained Mather’s exact spelling throughout. If, on the ghout. If, on the other hand, Mather adopts a variant spelling of the names of such authors as Camden, Peutinger, White, or Clarke by rendering them Cambden, Pentinger, Wite, or Clark, wrongful identification is possible. In such cases, I have corrected the variant spelling in the text and noted the correction in a footnote. Such obvious slips as y^ethe heavens, often the result of Mather’s inaccurate copying from another source, of inaccurate cancellations of earlier passages, of interpolations of words and phrases, have been silently emended. His characteristic (though inconsistent) mixes of numerals such as ii for 11, i2 for 12, or 3i for 31, have been silently modernized. However, in following Parkhurst’s eighteenth-century conventions, I have retained Mather’s use of such ligatures as æ and Æ and for œ and Œ. Hence “æqual” and “Ægypt,” and “Phœnicians” and “Œconomy.” These conventions generally reflect Mather’s Latin sources.