Research & investigation · Texts & cultural history
James M. Robinson
Scholar and editor of Nag Hammadi texts
Also known as James Robinson · James MacConkey Robinson
Who they are
James M. Robinson helped organize the conservation, publication and translation of the Nag Hammadi writings. He served as general editor of the collaborative English collection published in 1977. His role connects the physical preservation of ancient manuscripts with the modern scholarly and public access that made their contents widely discussable.
He belongs to the manuscript-preservation and history-of-religious-ideas strand.
Selected contributions
- Worked on the Nag Hammadi conservation and facsimile publication projects.Source ↗
- Edited The Nag Hammadi Library in English, first published in 1977.Source ↗Source 2 ↗
Selected works
Book · 1977
The Nag Hammadi Library in English
This collaborative English collection brought the Nag Hammadi writings to a wider readership. Robinson’s contribution was general editorial coordination of translations and introductions by multiple scholars.
First English collection: 1977; a third, completely revised edition appeared in 1988. The catalogue’s promotional paragraph mixes editions, so its narrative is not used for edition dating.
Reading scope & citation
Fresh catalogue title/editor/publisher table plus reused inspected scholarly publication history. No whole-volume or translation-comparison review.
ISBN: 9780060669294
In the timeline
Biography sources
- Nag Hammadi Library — The Coptic Encyclopedia ↗Claremont Coptic Encyclopedia / Macmillan
- How Reliable is the Story of the Nag Hammadi Discovery? ↗Journal for the Study of the New Testament / author-hosted paper
- The Nag Hammadi Library in English ↗Google Books; Harper & Row edition