THE LONDON POLYGLOT). Walton, Brian, Ed. Old and New Testament and Apocrypha. Text in nine languages: Hebrew, Samaritan, Aramaic (Targum Onkelos), Greek, Latin, Syriac, Ethiopic, Arabic, and Persian (Farsi)

(BIBLE

Thomas Roycroft

London

1655-1657

Six volumes. Frontispiece engraving of Walton by Pierre Lombart. Engraved title, maps and plates by Wenceslaus Hollar. Title within architectural columns, between which stand Moses (left) and Aaron (right), while pedestals bear vignettes of Adam and Eve in Paradise (left) and Noah’s Ark (right). Engravings include the Temple in Jerusalem (both exterior and interior), the sacred vessels, and a relief map of ancient Jerusalem. All Hebrew texts provided with nikud (vowel points). Printed in a variety of exotic types. Vol. I (Pentateuch): pp. (22), 53, 38, (3), 102 [i.e. 106], (2), 865. Vol. II (Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther): pp. 889 (lacking pp.1-4); (1), 29, (1). Vol. III (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Twelve Minor Prophets): pp. 447, (1), 389, (1), 227, (1), 149, (1). Vol. IV: (Apocrypha) pp. 87 (lacking pp.1-4); (5), 128, 23, (1), 20, 159, (1); (Targum Jonathan ben Uziel and Targum Yerushalmi, and Persian - to Pentateuch) pp. 390. Vol. V (New Testament): pp. 983, (1). Vol. VI (Appendix - contains critical essays, tables, variant readings, annotations and indices): pp. (2), 72, 56, 98 (i.e. 68), 80, 196, 140, 24, 58, 36, 36, 96 (i.e. 74), (2)

Darlow and Moule 5130 and 1446; Vinograd, London 7; Berkowitz, In Remembrance of Creation 182; Laor, Maps of the Holy Land 339

“The fourth and the last of the great Polyglots; known as the London, or Walton’s Polyglot. The most accurate and best-equipped of the great Polyglots.” Darlow & Moule 1446. The original ("republican") version was printed with a lengthy preface in Volume I discussing Oliver Cromwell’s role in the duty-free importation of paper for this edition. After the Restoration, copies not yet sold were given the "loyalist" preface, which omitted mention of Cromwell's help in the production of the book. The map of the Land of Israel, entitled “Chorographica Terrae Sanctae Descriptio,” occurs in Vol. I after p. 53. The map orients to the East, with Lebanon at the far left, and what is presently referred to as the Negev Desert at the far right, while the Mediterranean Sea takes the foreground. Size: 8 1/2 x 19 inches. Above the large map are three cartouches of Old Syria, the Israelite Encampment in the Desert and the Wanderings of the Israelites in the Desert.