I am doing some research on Bible translations, and I was wondering when publishers started printing “red letter” edition Bibles (Bibles with Jesus's words in red letters). Do you know when and where (and even why) this practice began?
— The Rev. Peter Nafzger, Hugo, Minn., by e-mail
According to Gerald C. Studer, the editor of Bible Editions and Versions (formerly Bible Collectors' World), the idea of printing in red letters the words ascribed to Jesus in the New Testament originated with Louis Klopsch (1852-1910), a German immigrant who came to New York at a very young age and eventually became the editor of The Christian Herald. The first Red Letter edition of the New Testament alone was published in 1899. The first Bible to include a Red Letter New Testament was issued in 1901.
