antiquarian bookseller - Peter Harrington

Peter Harrington Antiquarian Bookseller
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WITH EARLY WORLD MAP
DEPICTING AUSTRALIA AS AN
ISLAND
278.ARIAS MONTANO,
Benito.
[Tractatus ad Sacr. Bibliorum
apparatum pertinentes] Communes
et familiares Hebraicae linguae
idiotismi, omnibus bibliorum
interpretationibus, ac praecipuè
Latinae Santis Pagnini versioni
accommodati, atque ex variis
doctorum virorum laboribus &
observationibus selecti & explicati
… [and other treatises].
Antwerp, Christopher Plantin, 1572 [30021] £11,250
Single folio volume (408 × 282 mm) in 18 parts, pp. 24; [viii],
118, [8], [2] bl.; 26, [2]; 20; 14, [2]; 10, [2] bl.; 18, [2]; 7; 11; 22,
[2]; [60]; [14], [2] bl.; 11; 33, [2]; 54, [1]; 59, [1]; [2] bl.; [iv], 12,
198; [xxiv], 141, [3]. Engraved vignette, 3 double-page maps,
9 engraved plates (1 double-page), woodcut title-vignettes,
some Hebrew type. Contemporary blind-stamped pigskin
over reverse bevelled wooden boards, spine with eight
raised bands, brass catches, clasps defective, lacking metal
cornerpieces, remains of paper shelf-label at head of spine,
early manuscript titling on spine now faded. Early ownership
inscriptions at head of title, one partly erased. Extremities
rather worn, a scattering of wormholes to lower inside board
and last few leaves, last few gatherings affected by spill-burn
in outer margin not touching the text, light water stain at foot
throughout, a very good copy.
FIRST EDITION. A fine contemporary volume containing
eighteen treatises from the Apparatus Sacer of the
Plantin Polyglot Bible, illustrated by three maps
highly sought-after in their own right. The Apparatus
Sacer, edited by Benito Arias Montano (1527–1598),
is a body of supplementary material to the bible
unprecedented in quantity and comprehensiveness,
Catalogue 57: Travel Section 7: Mapping, Navigation and Naval History
comprising a number of learned treatises that add up
to a complete ethnography of the ancient Hebrews.
The ornate double-hemispheric world map (Shirley 125,
state 1) found here illustrates the treatise “Phaleg”, which
deals briefly with the repopulation of the postdiluvial
world. The map depicts modern discoveries, including
Australia shown as a distinct island rather than as part
of an undifferentiated southern landmass, one of the
earliest maps to do so. Its toponymy, however, is based
exclusively on the bible and it is lettered throughout in
Hebrew, including the cardinal directions in the frame.
Montano wanted to assert the status of Scripture as the
basis of all human knowledge without denying the truths
found in pagan and modern philosophies; to this end he
identifies the biblical gold-bearing region of Ophir with
Peru, placing it on his world map on the western littorals
of the two continents of the New World. The Ophir–Peru
theory, by implication, made the flattering suggestion
that Philip II, the sponsor of the Plantin Polyglot,
and his Escorial were prefigured by Solomon and the
Temple. The theory required some linguistic gymnastics.
Ortelius, his close friend, lavished praise on Montano’s
erudition but remained unconvinced by the argument.
The volume also contains two further maps – depicting
Canaan at the time of Abraham (Laor 45) and the land
of Israel divided among the twelve tribes – which form
the most important representation of biblical geography
produced in the late 16th century before the publication
of Christiaan van Adrichem’s Theatrum Terrae Sanctae
in 1590, itself indebted in many respects to Montano.
Montano insisted on correct historical stratification in his
account of the Holy Land, separating it into two treatises:
“Chanaan” discusses the land before its conquest and
redistribution by Joshua; “Chaleb” deals with the later
period. The Canaan map is exceptional in Montano’s
effort to provide place names in Hebrew script. In
“Chaleb” Montano explains that his map of Israel was
intended as a replacement for pilgrimage for those who
could not travel and enjoy the memory of actual places.
Montano’s inclusion of maps in the Plantin Polyglot was
groundbreaking: prior to this, the inclusion of maps
in bibles was a predominantly Protestant practice.
Also included here is Montano’s treatise on sacred
architecture, “Exemplar”, which argues that the classical
architectural orders derived from designs described in the
bible, to which end he analyses in detail the construction
and appearance of Noah’s Ark, Solomon’s Temple and
the Tabernacle. One of the illustrations of the Ark shows
its dimensions superimposed onto the body of Christ in
a manner reminiscent of Leonardo’s famous illustration
of the proportions of the human figure (Vitruvian Man).
The full Apparatus Sacer takes up the last three of the eight
folio volumes of the Plantin Polyglot. Its bibliography
is complicated. This volume contains the bulk of the
treatises usually found in vol. 8, supplemented with four
linguistic treatises from vol. 6, these latter with reverse
pagination. “Various copies are differently bound up …
Arias himself is not always consistent in referring to the
volumes of the Apparatus Sacer. Some copies, again, have
different editions of the treatises contained in vols. 6 and
8” (Darlow & Moule). The contents of our volume are as
follows: (1) Communes et familiars Hebraicae linguae
idiotismi … 1572; (2) Liber Joseph, sive, de arcano
sermone … 1571; (3) Liber Jeremiae, sive, de actione
… 1571; (4) Thubal-Cain, sive de mensuris sacris liber …
1572; (5) Phaleg, sive, de gentium sedibus sive de terrae
promissae partitione … 1572; (6) Liber Chaleb, sive de
terrae promissae partitione …; (7) Exemplar, sive, de
sacris fabricis liber … 1572; (8) Liber Chanaan, sive de
duodecim gentibus …; (9) Daniel, sive, de saeculis codex
integer … 1572; (10) Index Biblicus …; (11) Hebraea,
Chaldaea, Graeca et Latina nomina …; (12) Variarum
in Graecis bibliis lectionum libellus …; (13) Illustriss. D.
Sirleti S.R.E. Cardinalis, annotations variorum lectionum
in psalmos … 1571; (14) Variae lections in latinis bibliis
editionis vulgatae … 1572; (15) Syrorum peculium …
1571; (16) Grammatica linguae syriciae … 1571; (17)
Dictionarium Syro-Chaldaicum … 1572; (18) Thesauri
Hebraicae Linguae … 1572. According to the collation
given in Darlow & Moule, no. 1 here belongs properly to
vol. 7, nos. 2–14 belong to vol. 8 and nos. 15–18 to vol.
6. COPAC gives the collation of a single volume similar but
not identical to ours held by Glasgow University Library.
Darlow & Moule 1572.
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