WE shall begin, as we have done already in other Places, with pointing out the best Editions of the New Testament, as well ancient as modern. This done, we shall speak of those who were employed about them.
Novum Testamentum Græcè*, sine spiritibus & accentibus, ut ipsum autographum* melius referat, in Polyglottis Complutensibus, ann. 1514. Editum, sed publicatum duntaxat post ann. 1522. This is the first Greek Edition that we have; it has been several times reprinted: It is copied from the Vatican Manuscript, and is better, and much more correct, than the Edition of the Septuagint in the Complutensian Bible.
Novum Testamentum Græcè & Latinè*, ab Erasmo Roterod. recognitum, &* Leoni X. nuncupatum, in fol. Basileæ, apud Froben. 1516. John Oecolampadius, and Nicholas Gerbelius, had the care of the Impression. This Edition met with great Opposition from Erasmus’s Enemies, but it was always well defended against them. Erasmus had it reprinted at Basil, in fol. by Frobenius, in 1419, with many Amendments and Annotations. Pope Leo X. approved it; and the most learned Men agree, that Erasmus is one of the best Expositors of the New Testament. This Work has been reprinted in several Forms, and at different Places, sometimes with Notes, and more generally without them.
Nicholas Gerbelius, who had the care of the first Edition, was a German. He taught the Law at Vienna in Austria, and at Strasburg, where he died, very old, in 1560. Melchior Adam has written his Life among those of the German Lawyers. Colomiez speaks of his Works in his Bibliotheque Choisie, p. 429. and Teissier in his Elogia, tom. 2. p. 67. Thuanus in his History says, he was a Man of great Probity, and as much to be esteemed for his Manners as his Learning. He was a very able Lawyer, and had a perfect Knowledge of the Greek and Latin Tongues. He was by Religion a Lutheran.
Novum Testamentum Græcum, ex edit. Aldi & Asulani, Venetiis, 1518. It is joined with the Old Testament, printed the same Year at the same Place.
Novum Testamentum Græcum à Ceporino (id est Pellicano) castigatum, in 8vo. Basileæ, Bebelii, 1524. This Edition was reprinted in 1531, -38, -40. It is taken from Erasmus’s third Edition, of 1522.
Novum Testamentum Gr. & Lat. absque distinctione capitum. In fol. Basileæ, typis Joan. Froben. 1527. This Edition was made with great Care, compared with several Manuscripts, and is very correct.
Novum Testamentum Gr. in 8vo. Paris. Simonis Colinæi, 1535. Mill observes, that the Author of this Edition had many good Editions of the Text before him, and has followed that Reading which seemed best to him.
Novum Testamentum Gr. in 4to. Basileæ, Froben & Episcopii, 1545. This Edition is made from Erasmus’s fifth Edition. It is very fine, and of a beautiful Character.
Novum Testamentum Gr. in 16mo. Paris. typis Roberti Steph. 1546. This Edition is one of the finest that ever appeared: They pretend to say that there are but eleven Faults in it. It is remarkable for the Preface, which begins with Omnificam. There was another Impression of it in 1549, which is in almost every Particular like that of 1546. Mill, who took the Pains to compare these two Editions, has observed, that the last has eleven Faults more than the first, and differs from it in 67 Places. Another Remark made upon it is, that in the Preface, p. 1. line 2. before the End, instead of plures you read pulres.
Novum Testamentum Gr. in fol. Paris. Rob. Steph. 1550. This is the best of all the Greek Editions of the New Testament printed by Robert Stephens. He has placed the Various Readings in the Margin, collected out of sixteen Greek Copies. Mill has criticized them with great Accuracy, as may be seen at length in the Prolegomena of his Edition of the New Testament. Robert Stephens’s Edition of 1550 has been several times reprinted, but not always with equal Success.
Novum Testamentum, cum duplici Interpretatione, Erasmi scilicet, & veteris Interpretis, 2 Vol. in 8vo. ex Officinâ Rob. Steph. 1541. This Edition was published at Geneva, not in 1541, as the printed Copies bear Date, but in 1551, while this celebrated Printer was a Refugeé there. It is entirely the same with that of 1550: But is particular in this, that the Printer has marked the Verses in it, which was a new Invention of his own framing. He invented it, as his Son Henry Stephens says, while he was performing a Journey on Horseback from Paris to Lions; and the first Essays of it were made publick in the New Testament we are speaking of. The Use of it appeared to be so beneficial, that it was followed in almost all the Editions that came after it.
Novum Testamentum cum variis lectionibus, in 12mo. Paris. Joan. Crispini, 1553. This Edition is made after the Text of Robert Stephens; it is perfectly neat, and the Character is very fair.
Novum Test. Gr. à Theodoro Bezâ Latinè versum, cum ejusdem Annotationibus, & Præfatione, in fol. Basil. 1559. This Edition has been several times reprinted, in different Places: That of Cambridge, in 1642, with Camerarius’s Comment, passes for the best of all.
Novum Test. Gr. in 24mo. Antwerpiæ, Christoph. Plantin. 1564. There are many other Editions of the same New Testament by Plantin, in 1572, -73, -74, -83, -84.
Novum Test. Græc. cum Argumentis capitum & variis Lectionibus, in 16mo. Joan. Crispini, 1564, & 1565. This Edition is very fair and correct.
Novum Test. Gr. cum interpretatione duplici Latinâ, unâ veteri, altera Theodori Bezæ in fol. typis Henrici Stephani, 1565. This Edition is considerable for the great number of Copies which Henry Stephens had consulted, and for the Various Readings that are added to it. See Mill’s Prolegomena.
Novum Test. Græc. 2 Vol. in 16. ex Officinâ Henrici Stephani, Roberti filii, ann. 1568. This Edition is pretty correct, and the Printer has inserted many Various Readings at the End, taken from very ancient Copies.
Novum Test. Gr. & Lat. ex recognitione Benedicti Ariæ Montani, 1585: in fol. in Burgo-Aracenensi, in Hispaniâ. This Edition is scarce; it is joined with the same Montanus’s Hebrew Bible: But the best Edition of the New Testament in Greek and Latin by this Author is that of Antwerp, in fol. printed by Plantin, 1584.
Novum Test. Gr. Lat. ex versione Sebastiani Castellionis, in 8vo. Venet. 1583. Item, 1584, & 1591. Castalio is known to have valued himself for speaking Latin well, and to have affected the Purity of this Language in his Translations of the Scripture.
Novum Test. Gr. sub Aristarchi limam revocatum, additis notis marginalibus, in 8vo. Basileæ, Brylinger, 1586. This New Testament is thought to have been procured by the Industry of Isaac Casaubon, as well as that, which was printed in 16mo. by Henry Stephens in 1587, and at Geneva by Eustace Vignon in the same Year 1587. There are Notes, Various Readings, and Concordances in it. It was reprinted at Geneva in 1615, and at Paris by Paul Stephens, in 1517.
Novum Test. Græc. cum Notis Josephi Scaligeri, in 4to. Genev. Petri de la Rouviere, 1620.
Novum Test. Græc. cum notis, Stephani Casauboni & Scaligeri, in 8vo. Londini, 1622. This Edition is very faulty. The Editions of 1633 and 1641, are the same, but that of 1633 is best.
Novum Test. Græc. ex Regiis Philippi II. & aliis optimis Editionibus summâ curâ expressum in 16mo. Lugd. Batav. Elzevir. 1624. This Edition is very beautiful, as those of the Elzevirs generally are. It is copied from Robert Stephens’s third Edition of 1550. Mill has observed but twelve Instances wherein the two Editions differ: It is without Distinction of Verses.
The Elzevirs have printed other Greek Testaments, in 1633, -41, -56, -58, -62, -75, -78. All these Editions are extremely neat, but not without Faults. That of 1633 is the best of all; the Verses are distinguished in it.
Novum Test. Gr. in 32to. Sedani. Joan. Jannoni. 1628. This Edition is remarkable only for the extreme Smallness of it, and the Beauty of the Characters.
Novum Testamentum Græcè*, in 24mo. Amstelodami, typis Gulielmi Bleau*. This Edition is in a very small Character, very neat, but not without Faults.
Novum Test. Græco vulgari seu litterali, ex versione Maximi Gallipolitani, & altera Cyrilli Lucaris, in 4to. Genevæ, 1638. This Edition in Vulgar Greek was made at the Expence, and by the Order of the States- General of the United Provinces, for the Benefit of the modern Greeks. But it has had no great Success among these People, who read the New Testament in its primitive and original Language only, which they understand so sufficiently, as to be able to do very well without Translations. See Langius’s Dissertation on this Edition, p. 4, &c. Gallipolitanus was a Greek Monk, an Hieronymite, according to Fabricius in his Bibliotheca Græca, who adds, that Seraphim, an Hieronymite likewise, being in England, reprinted his New Testament in 1703, in 12mo. and made a Present of it to him. It is said to have been again printed since that time at Hall, in Saxony. Fabricius calls him Maximus Margunius Gallipolitanus. He seems to have confounded him with another, by Nation a Greek, and Bishop of Cerigo, who died at Venice in 1602.
Novum Testam. Græc. cum variis lectionibus ad calcem, in fol. Paris. ex Typographiâ Regiâ, 1642. It is altogether one of the fairest and most magnificent Impressions, but is not reputed one of the most correct.
Novum Test. Græc. ex antiquissimo MS. operâ Joan. Boecleri, in 12mo. Argentorati, 1645. there is a second Edition of 1660. Boecler, who published this Edition, was born in Franconia, in the Village of Crohem, 1611. His Father, who was a Lutheran, taught him the first Elements. When he was as yet but ten Years old, he was sent to Hailborn, where he made a great Progress in the Sciences and Languages. In the Year 1631, he went to Nuremberg, where he shined in that University, till 1649, when he was invited to Upsal by the Queen of Sweden. He returned afterwards into his own Country, and died at Strasburg in 1672, being 61 Years old. Witten published his Funeral Oration, and the Catalogue of his Works, in the Lives of the Philosophers and Orators, p. 557, in 8vo. He is looked upon as one of the finest Ornaments of Germany. He had a vast Knowledge of Civil and Human Matters, as we may judge by the excellent Works which he has left.
In Walton’s Polyglot, printed 1657, the Greek Testament is published from Robert Stephens’s fine Edition of 1550; and in le Jay’s Polyglot the Greek is copied from the Complutensian Edition.
Nov. Test. Gr. cum versione Latinâ vulgatâ & Gallicâ Montensi, in 8vo. at Mons, 1673. This Edition, in three Columns, was printed at Roan, and not at Mons according to the Title. It is very commodious, and well enough printed.
Novum Test. Græcè*, cum locis parallelis*, variantib. Lection. ex plus 100 MSS. Codicib. & antiquis versionib. in 8vo. Oxonii è Theatro Sheldoniano 1675. It was reprinted in 1697 and 1702. The Text of it is pretty neat and correct; but the Various Readings at the bottom of the Page are a little too confused; and to distinguish them readily, requires Time and Practice; besides, as the Editors could not compare them, there are many faulty.
Novum Testam. Gr. & Germanicè studio Joan. Leusden, in 12mo. Luneburgi, 1693. The same Leusden has printed another Testament in Greek and Latin at Amsterdam, for Wetstein, in 12mo. 1698. and again one in Greek, without Latin, and without Abbreviations, at Amsterdam, in 1698, and again another in Greek and Flemish, in 12mo. at Amsterdam, 1698.
Novum Testam. Græcè cum Scholiis Græcis è Græcis Scriptorib. variantib. Lection. operâ Joan. Gregorii, Archidiaconi Glocestriens. in fol. Oxonii, 1703. The Author dying before the Work was finished, the last Hand was put to it by Dr. Aldrich and Dr. Grabe. John Gregory was an Englishman, of Buckingham, where he was born in 1607. He studied at Oxford the Oriental Languages and Divinity. He was afterwards nominated Archdeacon of Gloucester, and died in 1646, according to the History of the publick Library of Oxford, Part 2. p. 275. col. 1. This Author was one of great Learning, and had all the Qualities desirable in a Man of Sense. See what the Memoirs of Trevoux say of his New Testament, for the Year 1708, and the Lipsick Acts, for 1704, p. 50.
Novum Testam. Græc. cum variantibus Lection. studio Joan. Georgii Pritii, cum ejus Prolegomenis, in 24mo. Lipsiæ, 1703. The same Year he published another Edition, in 12mo. at the same Place; and in 1709, in 12mo. together with the History of our Saviour’s Passion, and Cellarius’s Geographical Maps. The Author confesses that he had made great use of the preceding Editions, in order to make his own more correct. John George Pritius was a German of Lipsick, a Lutheran, and Professor of Divinity. He was still living in 1720.
Novum Testam. Græcum, cum Variantib. Lection. locis parallelis, Prolegomenis, &c. studio & labore Joannis Millii, in fol. Oxonii è Theatro Sheldoniano, 1707. This is the most compleat Edition of the New Testament which has hitherto appeared. Mill had been thirty Years about it, and died a little before it was entirely printed off. The Main of this Edition is taken from Robert Stephens’s of 1550.
Ludolphus Kuster had it reprinted in fol. at Roterdam, for Gaspard Fritsch and Michael Bohen, in 1710. He made some Additions to it, and digested it into better Order. His Edition is very beautiful and correct, and much cheaper than that of Oxford. Kuster was a German, a Calvinist, and Doctor of Law. But going to Paris, he turned Catholick, and died of the true Religion, in 1717. See the Journal des c. 5. p. 185, 191. and Simon’s Critical History of the New Testament, ch. 9. John Mill was an Englishman, a Prebend of Canterbury, and before of Hereford. He died in 1707.
We should not omit here to take notice of the Greek Testament by John Henry Majus, printed at Giessen, 1705, in 8vo. from the best Manuscripts, with Arguments and parallel Places; as also of two Editions of the Greek Testament by Stephen Curcellæus; with various Lections, and parallel Passages in the Margin, which M. le Clerc speaks of, in his Bibliotheque Ancienne & modernne, tom. 19. part 1. p. 129. Stephen Courcelles, or Curcellæus, was born at Geneva, in 1586. He there taught Divinity, and died an Arminian, in 1559. M. Dupin has given the Catalogue of his Theological Works, in his Tables, tom. 4. p. 1061. Baillet speaks of him in the Life of Descartes, part 2. l. 6. c. 4. p. 215. As to John Henry Majus, he was a German Lutheran, and Professor of the Oriental Languages. He is known by the great number of Works published by him upon Scripture.