Welcome
It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to the website of the “Bibliothèque copte de Nag Hammadi” (Nag Hammadi Coptic Library).
Here, you will find, signed by more than twenty collaborators, French translations of the Coptic texts preserved in the papyrus codices that were discovered in 1945 near the modern village of Nag Hammadi in Upper Egypt, as well as in the Coptic Gnostic codex of Berlin (Berolinensis Gnosticus 8502). You will also have the chance to read an original and modern French translation of the two “Books of Jeû” from the Bruce codex (Bodleian Library of Oxford, MS Bruce 96).
It is important to note that these translations are always subject to revision. Readers interested in learning more about these texts will benefit from consulting Écrits gnostiques. La bibliothèque de Nag Hammadi, published by Gallimard in December 2007, in the collection Bibliothèque de la Pléiade. This volume provides a general introduction as well as introductions and annotations for each of the Nag Hammadi and Berlin texts. The Coptic text and French translations of most of the Nag Hammadi, Berlin and Oxford treatises are also already published, along with critical annotations, detailed commentaries, and indexes, in the Bibliothèque copte de Nag Hammadi collection (Presses de l’Université Laval and Peeters).
In addition to the translations currently available, this Web site will soon host new original French translations of the Anonymous Treatise contained in the Oxford Bruce Codex, of the Pistis Sophia contained in the London Askew Codex (British Library Add. 5114), as well as of the Letter of Peter to Philip, the (Apocalypse of) James, the Gospel of Judas and the B[ook of Allogenes] contained in the Tchacos Codex.
Any reproduction of these provisional translations for publication purposes is strictly forbidden. Our translations are made available on this site to make the Coptic Gnostic sources more easily accessible, especially to the French-speaking world, for study and research purposes. Anyone wishing to reproduce one of these translations in whole or in part for publication purposes should send a request to this effect to the Presses de l’Université Laval for translations published in the collection Bibliothèque copte de Nag Hammadi, or to Peeters Publishers for titles following volumes 38 of the "Textes" series, 7 of the "Concordance" series, and 9 of the "Études" series . For translations published in the volume Écrits gnostiques. The Nag Hammadi library in the Bibliothèque de la Pléiade, please contact Éditions Gallimard.
You will also find on this site up-to-date information on the progress of our publications, information on the nature and importance of this manuscript collection, a brief history of our publishing and translation project, as well as contact information for the authors.
Our work has received financial support from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Fonds de recherche du Québec–Société et Culture, the J. Armand Bombardier Foundation, the Conseil franco-québécois de coopération universitaire (CFQCU) and Université Laval, as well as from a number of ad hoc partners to whom we would like to express our thanks.
I wish you a profitable visit of our site and wish you a warm welcome,
Eric Crégheur
Professor
Faculté de théologie et de sciences religieuses
Institut d’études anciennes et médiévales
Université Laval
Québec, Canada