Need advice on building a pious library.

Need advice on building a pious library.

Here are some tips:

1) Narrow down what you want: either by author or by type of book (Missal, Breviary, Bible commentary, prayer books, &c.).

2) Check book-selling websites (Amazon, Abebooks, Barnes & Noble, eBay) regularly with keyword searches (for example, for the works of St. Alphonsus, search "Alphonsus" and "Grimm" on Amazon or eBay). Sometimes booksellers may not know how valuable old Catholic books are, and you may stumble upon an English translation of the Roman Breviary for 15% of its market price amongst book collectors.

3) Check out thrift stores, flea markets, estate sales, yard sales, mom-'n-pop bookstores, antique stores, &c., every now and then. Also remember that Churches, Convents, Monasteries and Seminaries may be selling their old books.

4) It could be a lengthy process, but it will give you the opportunity to save some money.

5) It is now easier than ever to collect classic Catholic books. Reprographic reprints of these works are now being circulated and trustworthy translations of hitherto untranslated works are now available. One example of the latter are the lectures of St. Thomas Aquinas on the Epistles of St. Paul, which have the Latin and English texts. Also, the lectures of the same Angelic Doctor upon the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew. It has been recently translated and published.

6) Universities are preserving deteriorating works from previous epochs by digitization and these can be downloaded as PDF files unto a sort of portable device that can enable you to have thousands of works at the tip of your fingers. Amongst these works are old Catholic books that are no longer in circulation.

7) Sometimes Chapels give or sell books that defunct individuals may have bequeathed unto individual Priests, whose private or Chapel libraries may have copies of these books or there may simply be no room for the books.

8) Pray to you Angel-Guardian, to St. Joseph and the Blessed Virgin Mary, that you may attain to the works that will help you work for the greater glory of God and the salvation of souls, particularly yours and those of your household.

I don't think of any other counsel to give you. If something occurs to me, I shall forthwith let you know.

Here are some tips:

1) Narrow down what you want: either by author or by type of book (Missal, Breviary, Bible commentary, prayer books, &c.).

2) Check book-selling websites (Amazon, Abebooks, Barnes & Noble, eBay) regularly with keyword searches (for example, for the works of St. Alphonsus, search "Alphonsus" and "Grimm" on Amazon or eBay). Sometimes booksellers may not know how valuable old Catholic books are, and you may stumble upon an English translation of the Roman Breviary for 15% of its market price amongst book collectors.

3) Check out thrift stores, flea markets, estate sales, yard sales, mom-'n-pop bookstores, antique stores, &c., every now and then. Also remember that Churches, Convents, Monasteries and Seminaries may be selling their old books.

4) It could be a lengthy process, but it will give you the opportunity to save some money.

5) It is now easier than ever to collect classic Catholic books. Reprographic reprints of these works are now being circulated and trustworthy translations of hitherto untranslated works are now available. One example of the latter are the lectures of St. Thomas Aquinas on the Epistles of St. Paul, which have the Latin and English texts. Also, the lectures of the same Angelic Doctor upon the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew. It has been recently translated and published.

6) Universities are preserving deteriorating works from previous epochs by digitization and these can be downloaded as PDF files unto a sort of portable device that can enable you to have thousands of works at the tip of your fingers. Amongst these works are old Catholic books that are no longer in circulation.

7) Sometimes Chapels give or sell books that defunct individuals may have bequeathed unto individual Priests, whose private or Chapel libraries may have copies of these books or there may simply be no room for the books.

8) Pray to you Angel-Guardian, to St. Joseph and the Blessed Virgin Mary, that you may attain to the works that will help you work for the greater glory of God and the salvation of souls, particularly yours and those of your household.

I don't think of any other counsel to give you. If something occurs to me, I shall forthwith let you know.

This is a great start, thanks.

In looking for a New Testament commentary, I found The Layman's New Testament by Father Hugh Pope. How does it compare to the commentaries from The New Testament of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by Callan and McHugh and the Haydock Commentary?

The layout of The Layman's New Testament is better, in my opinion, because of the marginal notes that make clear thematic demarcations, but the notes are not as comprehensive as those in the Haydock Bible.

Rev. Fr. Francis Aloysius Spencer's The New Testament of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ edited by Rev. Frs. Callan and McHugh has the BEST layout I have ever seen, and it carefully points out all the citation from the Old Testament throughout the text. However, this is a translation of the Greek MSS, not the Latin Vulgate. But it is an excellent text nonetheless and helped me understand the Vulgate all the better. The notes are less comprehensive than those in the The Layman's New Testament, but major differences with the Vulgate are noted. This is the only Catholic Greek translation that I know was published before the mid-20th century and Frs. Callan and McHugh were very much impressed by them.

All the scholars in question, Rev. Frs. Pope, Spencer, Callan, McHugh, were Dominican; Rev. Fr. Spencer had been trained as a Jesuit but by Apostolic dispensation went into the Dominican Order.

Rev. Fr. Callan went on to write Commentaries on the Epistles of St. Paul published by Joseph F. Wagner, Inc., in New York and London. I highly recommend them: at first they were published as two volumes and later as one big complete volume.

I was also able to scan samples from Rev. Fr. Francis Aloysius Spencer's The New Testament of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ edited by Rev. Frs. Callan and McHugh.

Here they are:

Hobbledehoy:

Do you own or are you familiar with this facsimile edition of the Original Douay Rheims?

http://www.churchlatin.com/douayrheims.aspx

If so, how is the readability?  Does the binding look like it will last?

I think this would be an interesting addition to a Catholic library, I just have never heard any reviews so haven't been willing to take the plunge.

Do you know if there are any available reprints of the Cornelius A Lapide Commentary either complete or other than the gospels? ( I know there are a few sellers of the Gospel commentaries)

Thanks

Luke