International Sunday School Commentary
According to the American Baptist Year Book for 1875, The International Series of Sunday-school Lessons provided a suitable opportunity for circulating copies of the Revised Scriptures. The plan was to release two volume every year beginning in 1873. The first volume was Thomas J. Conant's revision of Genesis (while not prepared for this purpose, this volume provided the material for Sunday Schools). The second volume was the Gospel of Matthew with notes by Rev. Franklin Johnson. Unfortunately, it was released when many Sunday Schools were suspended for the summer and less than two-thousand copies were sold. The Two volumes for 1874 were: "Moses and Israel" and "The Mighty Worker." The two volumes for 1875 were: "Heroes and Judges" and "Kings and Apostles."
The New Testament portions are from the Second Revision of the New Testament (copyright 1865). For the Old Testament portions, they appear to be from those published in the 1870s, and they differ from the final version found in the 1912 Bible.
1873
Title: The | Gospel According to Matthew, | with notes, | Specially Prepared for the | Use of Sunday Schools, | in studying the lessons of the | International Series. | By | Rev. Franklin Johnson, D.D. | The Revised English Text of the American Bible Union. | New York: | American Bible Union. London: | Trübner & Co., | 1873.
Date: 1873
Publisher: American Bible Union: New York
Facsimile: A facsimile is available at books.google.com
Contents: Matthew with notes. Volume 2 in this series.
Images: Title page
1874
Title: Moses and Israel | International | Sunday School Commentary. | Volume Three - January to July, 1874. Sacred Text of the Lessons. | Revised by | Prof. Geo. R. Bliss. D.D. | With notes prepared expressly to meet the wants of the | Sunday School teacher, embracing Commentary, Bible | Dictionary and Spiritual Instruction. | By Rev. Franklin Johnson, D.D., | Author of Notes in Volume Second, Lessons in Matthew. | New York: American Bible Union, | 32 Great Jones Street. | London: | Trübner & Co., | 1874.
Date: 1874
Publisher: American Bible Union: New York
Facsimile: A facsimile is available at archive.org
Images: Title page
Contents: The volume contains 26 lessons as follows:
| Lesson 1 | Exodus 1:7-14 | Lesson 14 | Exodus 20:1-17 |
| 2 | Exodus 2:1-10 | 15 | Exodus 32:1-6, 19-20 |
| 3 | Exodus 3:1-10 | 16 | Exodus 33:12-20 |
| 4 | Exodus 4:1-9, 27-31 | 17 | Exodus 40:17-30 |
| 5 | Exodus 6:1-8 | 18 | Leviticus 7:37-38 |
| 6 | Exodus 7:14-22 | 19 | Leviticus 23:4-6, 15-22, 33-36 |
| 7 | Exodus 12:21-30, 51 | 20 | Numbers 3:5-13 |
| 8 | Exodus 13:17-22 | 21 | Numbers 14:1-10 |
| 9 | Exodus 14:19-31 | 22 | Numbers 20:7-13 |
| 10 | Exodus 15:22-27 | 23 | Numbers 21:4-9 |
| 11 | Exodus 16:1-5, 31-35 | 24 | Deuteronomy 18:9-18 |
| 12 | Exodus 17:8-16 | 25 | Deuteronomy 34:1-12 |
| 13 | Exodus 15:1-11 | 26 | Deuteronomy 8 |
Comments: The portions of the Old Testament in this commentary (Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) were not otherwise printed by the ABU until the complete Bible in 1912. However, the translation in the Commentary are from "the translation of the Book, furnished for the American Bible Union, by Professor C.M. Mead, of Andover Theological Seminary." A quick comparison with the 1912 edition shows that this is not identical to that edition, but may represent an earlier state of the translation. Also, Professor Bliss was part of the group that prepared the ABU New Testament.
Title: The Mighty Worker. International Sunday School Commentary. Volume Four. Lessons in Mark. July 1874, to January, 1875. Text of the Lessons both in the Common Version and in the Revised Version of the American Bible Union. With notes prepared expressly for the use of Sunday School teachers and Bible classes. By Geo. W. Clark, D.D. Author of "English Harmony of the Gospels," "Notes on Matthew," etc. "If any one desires to know an evangelical fact, not only in its main features and grand results, but also in its most minute and graphic delineation, he must betake himself to Mark." - Da Costa. New York: American Bible Union, 32 Great Jones Street. Philadelphia: Bible and Publication Society, 530 Arch Street. 1874.
Date: 1874
Publisher: American Bible Union: New York
Facsimile: A facsimile is available at archive.org
Contents: Portions of Mark's Gospel are included in each lesson and the complete Gospel of Mark in the American Bible Union (Second Revision) Version is included as an appendix.
Images: Title page
1875
Title: Heroes and Judges, From the Lawgiver to the King. International Sunday School Commentary, Volume Five - January to July, 1875. Sacred Text of the Lessons Revised by Rev. H.B. Hackett, D.D. and Rev. Geo. W. Bliss, D.D. with Notes prepared expressly to meet the wants of the Sunday School teacher, embracing commentary, Bible dictionary, and spiritual instruction. By Rev. Franklin Johnson, D.D., Author of notes involumes second and third, Lessons in Matthew, and Moses and Israel. New York: American Bible Union, 32 Great Jones Street. American Baptist Publication Society, 530 Arch Street, Philadelphia.
Date: copyright 1874
Publisher: American Bible Union: New York
Facsimile: A pdf facsimile is available at books.google.com
Images: Title page
Contents: The volume contains 26 lessons as follows:
| Lesson 1 | Joshua 1:1-9 | Lesson 14 | Joshua 24:14-18 |
| 2 | Joshua 3:14-17 | 15 | Judges 2:11-16 |
| 3 | Joshua 4:4-9 | 16 | Judges 6:11-18 |
| 4 | Joshua 5:9-15 | 17 | Judges 7:1-8 |
| 5 | Joshua 6:12-20 | 18 | Judges 16:25-31 |
| 6 | Joshua 7:19-26 | 19 | Ruth 1:16-22 |
| 7 | Joshua 8:30-35 | 20 | 1 Samuel 1:21-28 |
| 8 | Joshua 14:6-15 | 21 | 1 Samuel 3:1-10 |
| 9 | Joshua 18:1-10 | 22 | 1 Samuel 4:12-18 |
| 10 | Joshua 20:1-9 | 23 | 1 Samuel 7:5-12 |
| 11 | Joshua 22:21-27 | 24 | 1 Samuel 8:4-9 |
| 12 | Joshua 23:11-16 | 25 | 1 Samuel 10:17-24 |
| 13 | Joshua 24:1-13 | 26 | 1 Samuel 12:20-25 |
Comments: It appears that the text for Joshua, Judges, and Ruth is the same as that published in 1878, but differs from the final version published in the complete Bible in 1912.
Title: Kings and Apostles, Israel's Kings and Christ's Apostles. International Sunday School Commentary. Volume Six - January to July, 1876. Text Revised by Geo. R. Bliss, D.D., Thomas J. Conant, D.D., H.B. Hackett, D.D., and A.C. Kendrick, D.D. With notes prepared expressly to meet the wants of the Sunday School teacher, embracing commentary, Bible dictionary, and spiritual instructions; and Golden Texts. by Rev. T. A. T. Hanna. New York American Bible Union, 32 Great Jones Street. American Baptist Publication Society, 530 Arch Street, Philadelphia.
Date: copyright 1875
Publisher: American Bible Union: New York
Facsimile: A pdf facsimile is available at books.google.com.
Images: Title page
Contents: The volume contains 26 lessons as follows:
| Lesson 1 | 1 Samuel 15:10-23 | Lesson 14 | Acts 1:1-12 |
| 2 | 1 Samuel 16:1-13 | 15 | Acts 2:1-11 |
| 3 | 1 Samuel 17:38-51 | 16 | Acts 2:12-28 |
| 4 | 1 Samuel 18:1-16 | 17 | Acts 2:37-47 |
| 5 | 1 Samuel 20:35-42 | 18 | Acts 3:1-11 |
| 6 | 1 Samuel 24:1-16 | 19 | Acts 3:12-26 |
| 7 | 1 Samuel 31:1-6 | 20 | Acts 4:8-22 |
| 8 | 2 Samuel 5:17-25 | 21 | Acts 4:23-37 |
| 9 | 2 Samuel 6:1-15 | 22 | Acts 5:1-11 |
| 10 | 2 Samuel 7:18-29 | 23 | Acts 5:12-26 |
| 11 | 2 Samuel 15:1-14 | 24 | Acts 5:27-42 |
| 12 | 2 Samuel 18:24-33 | 25 | Acts 6:1-15 |
| 13 | review lesson | 26 | review lesson |