PATTEN WILLIAM].

THE CALENDER OF SCRIPTURE WHEARIN THE HEBRU CHALLDIAN ARABIAN PHENICIAN SYRIAN PERSIAN GREEK AND LATIN NAMES OF NATIONS CUNTREYS MEN WEEMEN IDOLS CITIES HILS RIUERS & OF OOTHER PLACES IN THE HOLLY BYBLE MENTIONED BY ORDER OF LETTERS AR SET AND TURNED INTO OOUR ENGLISH TOONG.

      [London: Richard Jugge], 1575 4 p.l. 2-193 (i.e. 195) pp. [6] leaves. Some pagination anomalies but complete. FIRST EDITION. Excellent late 17th or early 18th century mottled calf raised bands spine compartments attractively gilt with four small and one large floral stamps. Historiated border on title page historiated initials. First four leaves with small embossed armorial stamp of the Macclesfield Library and front pastedown with matching armorial Macclesfield bookplate. Spine rather faded and dry (with gilt partly dulled or eroded) otherwise the original unsophisticated binding in excellent condition and quite appealing with very little wear. Title page expertly backed (with defective fore margin renewed) lower corner of first dozen gatherings with inoffensive small gray spots associated with a very light (sometimes invisible) dampstain five signatures with elongated worming right at fore edge (just barely intruding onto the leaf) minor worming at bottom of final 70 leaves (beginning as two small holes elongating slightly in six quires but always well away from the text) other insignificant imperfections but still pleasing internally the vast majority of the text clean and quite fresh. STC 19476; Lowndes III, 1803; Graesse V, 170. As the title indicates this is an annotated dictionary of persons and places appearing in the Bible and it is one of the earliest such books in English. Tabitha for example is identified as a pious woman resuscitated by Peter. Hers is a Syrian name we are told the Hebrew equivalent being "Dorcas" the meaning being "Dama" in Latin and "Deer" in English. The name "Elizabeth" provokes a long digression as she is not only the mother of John the Baptist but the sovereign of England on whose ancestors the author expatiates and whom he extols in a Latin poem. The information is culled largely from the "Biblia Polyglotta" of Francisco Ximénez de Cisneros and the "Dictionarium Theologicum" of Joannes Arquerius. William Patten who appears in the records for the final time in 1580 was a cousin of Bishop Waynflete of Winchester. In 1548 Patten participated in the expedition into Scotland of the Duke of Somerset and his description of the campaign is the ultimate source of Holinshed’s account. Subsequently he worked as a teller at the queen’s exchequer in Westminster and served as a justice of the peace. The publisher R. Jugge is best known for producing the Bishops’ Bible. Like many early English works from the Macclesfield library this is a very rare book: ABPC lists just one copy at auction since 1975. $6000 [Attributes: Hard Cover]