The modern science of textual criticism is not only a machine to 

 enable the student to construct a text of the New Testament which 

 shall be complete, correct, and free from interpolations. ... It aims 

 at . . . reconstructing the history of the book studied. 



Under the head of "Textual Criticism" comes the history of the 

 book from the time it left the author's hands to the present day, 

 including the study not only of accidental errors introduced by 

 copyists, but also the work of later editors and revisers. 



Burkitt, "Two Lectures on the Gospels." 



