Read volume 1 and volume 2 at Google Books.
Thomas Hartwell Horne (1780-1862) was a theologian and researcher whose Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures set a high standard for all future works on the subject. The work is most dated on textual matters, since many of the great discoveries of the nineteenth century occurred late in Horne’s life or after his death. A student of textual criticism will of course want to bring his knowledge up to date by a careful study of the work of scholars like Bruce Metzger. But a knowledge of the wealth of information contained in Horne (vol. 2, part 1, chs. 2 through 5) would be an excellent preparation for that study.
Students of apologetics will find much of interest in the first two volumes of Horne’s work. But the most important sections will probably be the chapters on non-Christian evidence for the credibility of the New Testament (vol. 1, ch 3, sec. 2), miracles (vol. 1, ch. 4, sec. 2), prophecy (vol. 1, ch. 4, sec. 3), and particularly on the apparent contradictions in Scripture (vol. 1, Book 2, ch. 7), which is especially thorough for a work not devoted solely to apologetics. Horne’s bibliographic obsession provides a diligent reader with numerous references to track down, making this work a virtual map of all previous literature on the subjects he touches.
The print in the editions linked above is, regretably, quite small. For a slightly older but more readable edition, see the sixth edition (1828), volume 1 [A] and volume 2 [A]
