1650 Critica Sacra—Seventeenth-Century Hebrew and Greek Biblical Lexicon—Probable Edward Ledwich Copy
A substantial seventeenth-century biblical-language reference work containing Edward Leigh’s philological and theological studies of the original Hebrew of the Old Testament and Greek of the New Testament.
Edward Leigh. Critica Sacra. London: Abraham Miller and Roger Daniel for Thomas Underhill, 1650. Two parts bound together.
The first part examines the Hebrew roots or “radices” of the Old Testament, arranged alphabetically and explained through their etymology, scriptural usage, variant meanings, and treatment by earlier biblical scholars. The second part provides a corresponding study of the Greek vocabulary of the New Testament.
Leigh intended the book for ministers, theologians, translators, and readers seeking to understand Scripture through its original languages. The pages combine English, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew type in a dense scholarly presentation, with extensive marginal references and comprehensive indexes.
The volume contains:
- The enlarged second edition of the Old Testament Hebrew section
- The corrected third edition of the New Testament Greek section
- Separate title pages
- Alphabetical Hebrew and Greek entries
- Scriptural, linguistic, and subject indexes
- Seventeenth- and eighteenth-century manuscript annotations
Probable Ownership of Edward Ledwich
An early blank bears the inscription:
“Edwᵈ Ledwich, October the 21st, 1757.”
This may be the ownership inscription of Edward Ledwich (1738–1823), the Irish clergyman, historian, and antiquary best remembered for The Antiquities of Ireland. Ledwich had entered Trinity College Dublin in 1755 and would have been nineteen years old when the inscription was written—precisely the period when such a Hebrew and Greek theological reference work would have been useful to him.
The identification is historically plausible and adds an intriguing Irish scholarly provenance, although the handwriting has not been formally authenticated.
Condition: Bound in early full calf with raised spine bands and a gilt-lettered “Leigh Critica Sacra” label. The binding is heavily worn, rubbed, stained, and abraded, with substantial leather loss at the corners, edges, spine ends, and joints. Hinges and sewing are weakened, with loosened leaves and visible structural wear. The title and preliminary leaves exhibit extensive creasing, edge loss, tears, staining, old manuscript writing, and early repairs, including patches made with contemporary printed wastepaper. Numerous leaves have worn or chipped margins, occasional tears, creases, staining, foxing, worming, and period annotations. Text generally remains dark and legible. An evocative, substantially unrestored scholarly volume showing more than three centuries of active ownership and use.
A substantial seventeenth-century biblical-language reference work containing Edward Leigh’s philological and theological studies of the original Hebrew of the Old Testament and Greek of the New Testament.
Edward Leigh. Critica Sacra. London: Abraham Miller and Roger Daniel for Thomas Underhill, 1650. Two parts bound together.
The first part examines the Hebrew roots or “radices” of the Old Testament, arranged alphabetically and explained through their etymology, scriptural usage, variant meanings, and treatment by earlier biblical scholars. The second part provides a corresponding study of the Greek vocabulary of the New Testament.
Leigh intended the book for ministers, theologians, translators, and readers seeking to understand Scripture through its original languages. The pages combine English, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew type in a dense scholarly presentation, with extensive marginal references and comprehensive indexes.
The volume contains:
- The enlarged second edition of the Old Testament Hebrew section
- The corrected third edition of the New Testament Greek section
- Separate title pages
- Alphabetical Hebrew and Greek entries
- Scriptural, linguistic, and subject indexes
- Seventeenth- and eighteenth-century manuscript annotations
Probable Ownership of Edward Ledwich
An early blank bears the inscription:
“Edwᵈ Ledwich, October the 21st, 1757.”
This may be the ownership inscription of Edward Ledwich (1738–1823), the Irish clergyman, historian, and antiquary best remembered for The Antiquities of Ireland. Ledwich had entered Trinity College Dublin in 1755 and would have been nineteen years old when the inscription was written—precisely the period when such a Hebrew and Greek theological reference work would have been useful to him.
The identification is historically plausible and adds an intriguing Irish scholarly provenance, although the handwriting has not been formally authenticated.
Condition: Bound in early full calf with raised spine bands and a gilt-lettered “Leigh Critica Sacra” label. The binding is heavily worn, rubbed, stained, and abraded, with substantial leather loss at the corners, edges, spine ends, and joints. Hinges and sewing are weakened, with loosened leaves and visible structural wear. The title and preliminary leaves exhibit extensive creasing, edge loss, tears, staining, old manuscript writing, and early repairs, including patches made with contemporary printed wastepaper. Numerous leaves have worn or chipped margins, occasional tears, creases, staining, foxing, worming, and period annotations. Text generally remains dark and legible. An evocative, substantially unrestored scholarly volume showing more than three centuries of active ownership and use.
