SGCB Manton Edition

[py3ak]

I've very much enjoyed reading some Thomas Manton lately, so naturally the 22-volume set of his works caught my eye as a worthwhile thing to acquire at some point. Depending on how much else was going on, it would provide 2-11 years of trenchant Biblical exposition.

But I have the SGCB edition of Ussher's Body of Divinity. Now I love Ussher. He is clear and forthright, willing to say things flatly that other people might just hint at or wonder about. In many places, he's brilliant. But I am not sure that I've ever seen a worse job of editing a text for publication. On more than one occasion the word "benefits" appears as "arenefits", and other OCR errors and inconsistencies abound.

If you have the SGCB Manton set, would you mind commenting on whether the editing is equally horrible? I'd rather read a scanned version from Google books than feel embarrassed every time I opened any of the 22 volumes.

 

[NaphtaliPress]

Is it reset or just a reissue of the 19th century edition? If it is not hard bound sewn, I'd keep an eye out for the 22 red set that was done in the 1980s.

 

[FenderPriest]

I think you'll find this helpful: Review: Complete Works of Thomas Manton. Simply put, they're a great set. I have one and I've found no issues at any point in reading them. Great index. Clear printing. I also like the paper color (which is more white than you see in Banner's Puritan sets).

 

[py3ak]

Thanks, Jacob. I see it is a photolithograph, which certainly alleviates my concern about the editing quality. And it is sewn-bound.

I must admit I don't really care much about the index, though.

 

[NaphtaliPress]

From the pictures the new printing seems a better print quality than the 1980s reprint.

 

[LeeD]

I have the set as well and echo Jacob's comments. The index is fabulous, the print is very readable, and I haven't noticed the errors you mentioned above. The content is excellent and I would recommend Manton wholeheartedly.

 

[FenderPriest]

I must admit I don't really care much about the index, though.

You should. Manton is a brilliant pastor, but navigating the 22 volumes is impossible without the index. Even if you read them through cover to cover, you'll still need the index.

 

[Pilgrim]

I have Ussher. It is a nice edition but I haven't spent much time in it and can't comment on any editing problems. Whatever the problems are, I'm 99% sure that I've seen much worse in self-published works over the past 30 years or so. That includes some published by SGCB as well. There's not a problem with Ussher on every page or every other page, is there? I can think of books that are riddled with spelling and grammatical errors. Often these are words that are actual words but which are misused in the context. It's obvious that the author meant to use a different word. Spell check won't fix that.

The last time I looked, SGCB had Ussher on sale for $5. I think their Manton set is going out of print and they have no plans to reprint it in the near future. If they have any copies left there aren't that many. I haven't pored over their emails lately but the were announcing that stock was low months ago. (I don't think I'm confusing it with another set.) I can understand hesitation over shelling out that kind of $$ for a work that one has questions about, even if it's at a sharply reduced price. I'm glad that the reports here are favorable. But the lack of an index is troublesome.

 

[py3ak]

You should. Manton is a brilliant pastor, but navigating the 22 volumes is impossible without the index. Even if you read them through cover to cover, you'll still need the index.

I'm afraid I can't bring myself to have strong feelings about an index. They occasionally come in handy, but it's hardly the case that one can't use a book without one - there's always the option of reading it, after all.

Chris, I wouldn't be surprised if some books manage to surpass the SGCB edition of Ussher for editing badness; but other SGCB books are not riddled with this kind of problem. The defects are so severe that I cannot bring myself to believe that a human being read it before it was printed. I have been unhappy with the quality of many re-issued books, to the point where I could wish there were a body competent to proclaim standard guidelines for the editing and formatting of 16th and 17th century works; but I don't think I've come across any other edition with this quantity of freshly-introduced problems in the text.

 

[gkterry]

I am blessed with great spiritual insight every time I read Manton.

If SGCB has no more sets left check with heritagebooks.org. That is where I purchased my set.

Also logos.com has Manton on Community Pricing for $40 if you would like an electronic copy.

I recommend both!

 

[Pilgrim]

Chris, I wouldn't be surprised if some books manage to surpass the SGCB edition of Ussher for editing badness; but other SGCB books are not riddled with this kind of problem. The defects are so severe that I cannot bring myself to believe that a human being read it before it was printed. I have been unhappy with the quality of many re-issued books, to the point where I could wish there were a body competent to proclaim standard guidelines for the editing and formatting of 16th and 17th century works; but I don't think I've come across any other edition with this quantity of freshly-introduced problems in the text.

Maybe that has something to do with why it's only $5 (90% off the list price) and has been selling at that price for the past couple of years or so. Seeing the price and knowing the importance of the book, I just had it thrown in with an order of mine around 2 years ago. It sat in plastic for well over a year because I was reading other things at the time. A few months ago I finally took it out to look something up but didn't spend much time with it.

 

[Pilgrim72]

I have the set. I love it. It's green. I love Manton. I haven't read all the volumes, but from what I've read I can't remember any typos.