Updating the English Bible
The next major translation following the King James (Authorized Version) had, as its purpose, the updating of the text on the basis of new material: new manuscripts such as the Siniatic, Vatican and Alexandrian codices having been discovered, the everyday language naturally morphing, and deeper understanding of the original languages to better equip men to translate out of archaic text to the now-vernacular.
In 1630, Codex Alexandrinus, a fifth century manuscript of the New Testament, a good early witness -- especially of Revelation-- was brought to England.
Two hundred years later, the Codex Sinaiticus was discovered by German scholar Constantin von Tischendorf. Cast aside as waste earlier in St. Catherine's Monastery near Mt. Sinai, this vellum (made from animal hide) dates to about 350 A.D. and contains New Testament Greek.
Kept in the Vatican Library since 1481 but not made available to scholars until the middle of the nineteenth century was yet another manuscript, Codex Vaticanus, dating to about 325 A.D. This one had both Old and New Testaments (except Hebrews 9:15-Revelation) in Greek. One hundred years of textual criticism opine that this is the most accurate and reliable.
In the 1800s certain men had begun to abandon the Textus Receptus ("Received Text"), upon which earlier translation had depended, in favor of revised works by Samual Tregelles (who was self-taught in Latin, Hebrew and Greek), published in 1857 to 1872, and Henry Alford (1849), and the efforst of Brooke Westcott and Fenton Hort (1881). The latter opined that Vaticanus and Sinaiticus represented the closest to the original had the least amount of corruption. They called this the "Neutral Text." It was upon the Neutral Text that Wescott and Horton based their standard, Westcott-Hort Greek New Testament: with Dictionary (English and Greek Edition)
By the latter part of the nineteenth century there were several Greek New Testament texts: Tragelles', Tischendorf's and that of Wescott & Hort. These text differed markedly from the Textus Receptus, and were considered superior for the several reasons related above. Thus, the Christian community was ripe for a new translation.
Archbishop "Soapy Sam" Wilberforce suggested it was time to undertake a new translation, and suggested, further, that Americans be involved. Thirty-six of the men were Anglican; the balance represented various denominations.
Work began with a committee of sixty-five on July 22, 1870 at Westminster Abbey. Two years later, the American part of the team (consisting of thirty-four men) started their work at Bible House of New York City.
In 1870 the Convocation of Canterbury decided on a major revision of the King James (Authorized) Version. A community team of sixty-five British Scholars, working in various committees, made significant changes. They corrected mis-translated Hebrew words, formatted poetic portions into form. Thousands of changes were made to the New Testament with the goal of a more-accurate rendering -- based not on the Textus Receptus but upon the work of Tragelles, Tischendorf and Westcott/Hort. When finally published in 1885, the English Revised Version met with resounding success, selling over three million copies in its first year. The popularity soon faded, however, because most people favored the language of the King James.