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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 November 2018
One of the many treasures of the Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel, is the manuscript of the Gospels written in Syriac in the year 945. This rare and beautiful codex was the property of the Jesuit Athanasius Kircher, who gave his “most dear and precious” book to Duke August the Younger of Braunschweig-Lüneburg as an ornament for his most famous library. Duke August (1579-1666) was known as a wonder in his age because among pious rulers he was the most learned, and among men of greatest learning, he was the most pious. For thirty years he studied all branches of learning, and his devotion to political life is witnessed by thirty volumes of correspondence. Among his writings were books on the game of chess and on cryptography. Most important for posterity is his library at Wolfenbüttel, which contains one of the largest collections of Bibles in Europe.
I am indebted to the Fuller E. Callaway Foundation and to Georgia State University for continued support of my research. Thanks are also due to Professor Paul Oskar Kristeller for his helpful suggestions and careful reading of this article. I am also grateful to Herr Doktor Milde, Keeper of Manuscripts, Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel, and to Dottore Gian Albino Ravalli-Modoni, Direttore, Biblioteca Marciana, for the use of rare materials; also to Dottoresse Margherita Carboni, Anna Maria Zanotto, and Ina Callegari, Biblioteca Marciana, for their help in locating documents.
1 The Syriac Gospels are found in the Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel, ms. 3.1.300. Aug. fol. The bookplate has an engraving of Athanasius Kircher and the words “Athanasius Kirchervs Fuldensis e Societate Iesu Anno Aetatis LIII.” There is some discrepancy about the date of this codex; in Kircher's dedication he writes that the ms. was transcribed 721 years before (i.e. before 1666), which would be 945 A.D.; however, in an explanatory letter he states that it was written 745 years before, that is, in 921 A.D. The manuscript was evidently edited in 945 A.D. See infra. See also Die Handschriften der Herzoglichen Bibliothek zu Wolfenbüttel, ed. Otto von Heinemann (Wolfenbüttel, 1890) Zweite Abtheilung, Die Augusteischen Handschriften, I, 186-88, no. 2045.
2 This famous library was founded in 1572 and was named after Duke August the Younger, whose scholarship helped to shape the collections. At the time of his death in 1666 the library was conceivably one of the largest libraries in Europe.
3 For a concise account of the Duke's life see the article, “August der Jüngere” in Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (Leipzig, 1875), I, 660-63.
4 “Hoc opus 4 Euangeliorum rarum et antiquissimum in syriaca lingua charactere quem Estranghelo uocant, ante annos 721 constriptum, Ego infrascriptus Serenissimo Sacri Romani Imperii Principi AVGVSTO Duci Brunsuicensi et Lunaeburgensi in celeberrimae Bibliothecae suae ornamentum, nee non ad gratitudinem pro tot in me collatis beneficiis contestandam corde intimo affectu offero, dico, consecro. Romae Anno 1666. 19 Martii Humillimus et devotissimus seruus Athanasius Kircherus. SJ.” This dedication is placed above the bookplate which contains an engraved likeness of Athanasius Kircher.
5 This letter is on the first page preceding the Syriac text.
6 For a concise account of the publication of the Plantin Polyglot Bible, see Rekkers, B., Benito Arias Montano (1527-1598) (Leiden, 1972), pp. 45–69.Google Scholar Rekkers, p. 52, points out that the censors of Louvain and Paris had made their corrections by 1570, but that the work was not completed until the end of 1571. There followed problems concerning Papal approval, however. Rekkers (pp. 54-55) notes: “It was an irony of fate that this monument of the Counter-Reformation should be so entirely opposed, in nature and in spirit, to the principles of Trent. Almost all its collaborators were on the borderline between orthodoxy and heresy. The irony is intensified by the fact that this Bible was set up on a press originally established to print the works of the Spiritualist prophet Henry Niclaes, and printed with Hebrew type supplied by the Protestant exile Bomberghe.” After prolonged negotiations on the part of Montano, papal approbation was granted in September, 1572. For a detailed account of the publication of the Polyglot, see Rooses, M., Christophe Plantin imprimeur anversois (Anvers, 1890)Google Scholar; also see Voet, L., The Plantin Press (Amsterdam, 1980), I Google Scholar; The Golden Compasses, (Amsterdam, 1972), II. Also see Giorgio Levi della Vida, Ricerche sulla formazione del più antico fondo dei manoscritti orientali delta Biblioteca Vaticana (Città del Vaticano, 1939), pp. 304-306.
7 “Extractus ex Domini Patris Athanasii Kircheri literis datis Romae 19. Martii 1666.
Mitto id Serenitati Vestrae qvo nihil mihi fuit carius, nil pretiosius, videlicet Quatuor Christi Euangeliorum rarissimum, vetustissimumque codicem, Syriacâ lingvâ, nee non Charactere qvem Estranghelo vocant, ante annos 745, prout inscriptio ejus in fine libri demonstrat, conscriptum; Continet autem praeter 4 Evangelia non nullas perbreves glossas marginales, modo arabicon [mallem arabico.] jam Syriaca lingva conscriptas. In calce foliorum sere [mallem fere.] semper Evangelistarum nomina rubro colore conscripta reperiet, quibus in occurrentium textuum concinnatione consensum concordiamque indicant. Ne vero in reperiundis capitulis Lector tempus perderet, nos ea juxta consvetam in Latinis Evangeliis capitulorum seriem et distributionem singula suis locis apposuimus. In fine qvoque Codicis Evangelii secundum Ioannem, qvae deerant, supplevimus. Posthaec seqvuntur Indices qvi qvo tempore, die, festisque Evangelia recitari debeant, exponunt. Scriptus fuit Codex, ubi supra memini, lingva Syriaca, qvâ tempore Christi tota Palaestina vulgo utebatur. Unde qvi lingvam Hebraeum norit, hanc sine difficultate intra breve tempus addisset, [mallem addiscet.] maximè sì in Lingva Chaldaea, quam? Chargumicam voeant, exercitatus fuerit: cum haec ab ilia non nisi charactere differat, ut proinde ad codicem legendum nil aliud opus sit, qvam ut in Charactere Estranghelico, qvi à Syriaco vix differt, legendo sese exerceat Lector, qvod ut majori cum facilitate fiat; alphabetum: … [At this point in the Latin text Kircher inserts the Syriac alphabet. Then the letter continues.] hic apponendum censui. Porrò textus Evangelicus ubique conformis est ei, qvi in Bibliis Regiis Plantinianis Syriacè impressis exhibetur. Sed haec de codicis descriptione sufficiant. Qvâ enim de antiqvitate Codicis, de ejus Scriptore, de loco, patria, oppido ubi conscriptus fuit, plura scire desideraverit, is adeat folium fini codicis insertum, ubi singula ex Syra in Latinam lingvam translata reperiet.” See above, note 1.
8 “Anno 945
die 24 Decembris descriptus fuit liber iste Sanctus Matthaei Marci Lucae Ioannis; sunt in eo lectiones omnium festorum anni aliorumque ordinum et variorum indicum ex antiquis exemplaribus; descriptus ope dei et SS martyrum.” Ibid.
9 “Hic igitur Liber sanctus 4 evangeliorum Matt. Marci Lucae, Ioannis diligenter conservatus fuit, et posuerunt in eo lectiones sollicitudine et potestate magna; cum indice et anno supra scripto excellens propter uerbum dei editus a Presbytero et Abbate S. Sabae cuius habitatio est in Bethali prope Damascum.” Ibid. This statement appears after Kircher's explanatory letter and also on the folio containing the drawing of the prelate.
10 “In ieiunio puro et benedicto id est in quadragesima tempore S. Ioannis Patriarchae sedis Apostolicae Antiochenae, et in beatitudine dierum S. Thomae Episcopi nostri in domo magnorum nostrorum in domo dei in cuius nominis honorem sacrata fuit; finitus fuit liber iste, ut eo deus manifestet nomen suum et dignos faciat fideles suos ut cognoscant, et lucrentur vitam aeternam; iuxta illud Euge serve bone et fidelis, quia supra pauca fuisti fidelis, supra multa te constituam; intra in gaudium domini tui.” Ibid.
11 “Qui legerit hunc librum orate [mallem orato.] apud dominum pro Jacobo filio Gedeonis, et pro Maria uxore eius et pro Gedeone filio eius ut ipsos Iesus conseruet. Oret pariter pro Presbytero Ecclesiae S. Sergii in Vico Hog ut conseruetur.” Ibid.
12 “Interpretatio eorum quae (fol. 42) in 4 crucis partibus Syra lingua inscripta sunt.” Ibid. Fol. 42 obviously does not belong in the text.
13 For the life and work of Postel see Bouwsma, William J., Concordia Mundi: The Career and Thought of Guillaume Postel (1510-1581) (Cambridge, Mass., 1957)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Kuntz, Marion L., Guillaume Postel, Prophet of the Restitution of All Things: His Life and Thought (The Hague, 1981).CrossRefGoogle Scholar For the life of Kircher see Godwin, Joscelyn, Athanasius Kircher: A Renaissance Man and the Quest for Lost Knowledge (London, 1979)Google Scholar; also note Kangro, Hans, “Kircher, Athanasius,” in Dictionary of Scientific Biography, ed. Gillispie, Charles Coulston (New York, 1973), VII, 374-78Google Scholar, which also contains a select bibliography; for the writings of Kircher see Bibliothèque de la Compagnie de Jésus, Nouvelle Édition par Carlos Sommervogel, S.J., (Bruxelles-Paris, 1893), IV, cols. 1046-77. In addition to his autobiography, P. Athanasii Kircheri vita a semetipso conscripta (Augsburg, 1684), Father Kircher wrote books on science, ancient languages, history, and mystical theology.
14 See Rekkers, B., Benito Arias Montano, pp. 45–69 Google Scholar; Bouwsma, William, Concordia Mundi, p. 241 Google Scholar; della Vida, Giorgio Levi, Ricerche sulla formazione del più antico fondo dei manoscritti oriental! della Biblioteca Vaticana, pp. 303-23Google Scholar; Secret, F., “Documents pour servir à l'histoire de la publication de la Bible d'Anvers,” Sefarad (Madrid, 1958), pp. 121-28Google Scholar; “Les Jésuites et le kabbalisme chrétien à la renaissance,” Bibliothèque d'humanisme et renaissance, 20 (1958) 542-55; L'Ésotérisme de Guy Le Fèvre de La Boderie (Genève, 1969), pp. 9-26; Kuntz, M., Guillaume Postel, pp. 115-17, 162-65.Google Scholar For the letters to Masius in which Postel discusses his Syriac exemplaria, see de Chaufepie, Jacques Georges, Nouveau dictionnaire historique et critique (Amsterdam, 1750), III, 216-18, 220-22, 226-31Google Scholar; see also Bibliothèque Nationale, Fonds lat. 3402, fols. 89-92. See also the correspondence of Masius in Lossen, Max, Briefe von Andreas Masius (Leipzig, 1886).Google Scholar
15 See Rekkers, , Benito Arias Montano, p. 51.Google Scholar
16 One of Postel's early projects was to prepare translations of the Gospels in Arabic, Syriac, and other languages in order to convert the Near East to Christianity.
17 See della Vida, Giorgio Levi, Ricerche, pp. 309-10Google Scholar; also printed in Chaufepié, p. 216; note also Lossen, pp. 46-47.
18 In a letter to Cardinal Granvelle, written on the same day as the letter to Masius, Postel again speaks of Syriac and Arabic books. “Si cupis bibliothecam tuam ornare praeclarissimis Syrorum et Arabum Authoribus … fac ut Damasci aut Alcahirae habeam vnde et mihi tenuiter sumptus doctoresque suppeditem tibi vero libros coemptos.” See Kuntz, , “A New Link in the Correspondence of Guillaume Postel,” Bibliothèque d'humanisme et renaissance, 41 (1979) 578-81.Google Scholar The ms. is found in Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional, ms. 21698, fasc. 17, formerly N.A.127.
18 Giorgio Levi della Vida, Ricerche, p. 310; also note Kuntz, , Guillaume Postel, pp. 93–94.Google Scholar
19 “… qui in tota Syria habitant, sed precipue circa montem Libanum ad 4000 hominum, vulgo Christianos de zona dicunt.” Linguarum duodecim characteribus differentium alphabetum, introductio, fol. Biiii.
20 Cf., for example, his De Foenicum literis, seu de prisco Latinae et Graecae linguae charactere … (Paris, 1552); De Originibus, seu de varia et potissimum orbi Latino ad hanc diem incognita, aut inconsyderata historia … (Basel, 1553); De Originibus seu de Hebraicae linguae et gentis antiquitate … (Paris, 1538).
21 “Si usquam gentium genuinum Matthaei exemplar extat, cum epistola ad Hebraeos, in hac lingua est. Ideo ex his literis curaui Danieli Bombergo, ut uetustissimum exemplar quatuor Euangeliorum in characterem priscum Hebraeorum transcriberetur ut liceat excudere, et fideliter etymologiam uenari nominum noui Testamenti, in quibus sunt abdita singularia mysteria, quae non nisi ab hac lingua, in qua cum plebe locutus est Iesus, peti possunt.” This broadsheet was probably published in Basel between 1552-1553. I am indebted to Doctor Carlos Gilly-Ortiz who provided me with a photocopy of this work. See also de Gandillac, Maurice, “Le Thème de la Concorde universelle,” in Guillaume Postel (Paris, 1985), pp. 192-97Google Scholar, where he publishes a facsimile of the broadsheet which is found in the Offentliche Bibliothek der Universitat, Basel.
22 Ibid.
23 See De Originibus, seu, de varia et potissmum orbi Latino ad hanc diem incognita, pp. 19-26. On the quarrels during the Cinquecento concerning the original language, see Simoncelli, Paolo, La Lingua di Adamo: Guillaume Postel tra accademici e fuoriusciti fiorentini (Firenze, 1984).Google Scholar One may also consult the sagacious remarks of Giovanni Cipriani in the introduction to his edition of Postel's De Etruriae regionis … originibus … (Roma, 1986).
24 De Etruriae regionis … originibus (Florentiae, 1551), p. 59.
25 See De Summopere Consyderandis, et non minus admirandis mysteriis et Veritatibus quae expropriae ipsius Christi hoc est Matemae linguae quae Syriaca est verbis in Euangelio Syriaco conservatis eliciuntur… The British Library, Sloane ms. 1413, fols. 1 –13.
26 Of this good fortune Postel wrote: “… attuli Venetias multa vetustissima fidelissimaque exemplaria Arabici noui testamenti, de quibus utrisque [mallem utriusque] per typos multiplicandis ut in orientem referantur aut deferantur, et dum maxime de hac re cum Ioh. Renialmo Dan. Bomberghi curatore, cuius aere Syriaca ipsa exemplaria paraveram, pertractarem, Ecce (o admiranda Christi prouidentia) se offert utrique Moses ille Syrus Sacerdos… .” The British Library, Sloane ms. 1413, fol. 87.
27 Postel wrote of the meeting with Moses in Rome: “… pridem Romae a suo Patriarcha misso fuerat….” The British Library, Sloane ms. 1413, fol. 87.
28 Ibid.; also see the Praejatio of Postel's Cosmographcae disciplinae compendium (Basel, 1561), sig. a3.
29 “… (collatis prius eius exemplaribus cum meo illo in ipsa Christi lingua Materna scripto quod nuper ad id attuleram) … ” The British Library, Sloane ms. 1413, fol. 87. See also nn. 26 and 27.
30 See Bibliothèque Nationale, fonds lat. 3402, fol. 91; see also della Vida, Giorgio Levi, Ricerche, p. 305 Google Scholar; Secret, F., “La Lettre de Postel à Masius du 24 Août 1563,” Bibliothèque d'humanisme et renaissance, 23 (1961), 534-40.Google Scholar
31 See Kuntz, , Guillaume Postel, pp. 116-18.Google Scholar In the Cosmographicae disciplinae compendium (Basel, 1561), sig. a3, Postel's words seem to indicate that Moses arrived in Venice shortly after Postel returned to Venice from the Orient, that is, in 1550 or 1551. The collation of Postel's Syriac ms. with that of Moses is also confirmed in a letter to the Emperor Ferdinand. See The British Library, Sloane ms. 1413, fol. 87. See above nn. 26, 27, 29. If Moses arrived in Venice shortly after Postel's return in 1550-1551 as the citation noted above suggests (… quum vix rediissem, se statim mihi Venetiis obtulit… ille …Moses…), his assistance to Widmanstadt was of longer duration than is usually thought. See Kuntz, , Guillaume Postel, pp. 115-16.Google Scholar See also della Vida, Giorgio Levi, Ricerche, p. 305, n. 4.Google Scholar
32 See Postel's long letters to the Emperor Ferdinand, The British Library, Sloane ms. 1413, fols. 84-89, 90-91; also see the recent biography of Ferdinand I by Fichtner, Paula Sutter, Ferdinand I of Austria: The Politics of Dynasticism in the Age of the Reformation (East European Monographs, No. C, Boulder, 1982)Google Scholar, in which she remarks, p. 7, that the Emperor hoped to use Postel's linguistic abilities to spread the Christian message in the Ottoman Empire. This had been, of course, Postel's aim long before this association with Ferdinand.
33 Postel's vast erudition was no doubt responsible for his preeminent salary. The record of each teacher and his salary is noted, and of Postel the entry states: “Secundus Graecus, qui et idem Linguae Arabicae Professor et quotidie bis legat, D. Gulielmus Postellus ducentos.” The salaries varied from eighty florins to two hundred florins, which was the stipend of Postel. The average wage for the year 1554 was about one hundred eighteen florins. See Geschichte der kaiserlichen Universität zu Wien, ed. Rudolf King (Wien, 1854), reprinted (Frankfurt, 1969), p. 165. I am indebted to Professor Joseph Freedman for sending me this reference.
34 “Dum porro ad mandata haec tua conficienda, Rex Auguste, necessaria omnia apparantur, insperantibus etiam nobis intervenit Gulielmus Postellus, vir supra aetatis nostrae consuetudinem, supra etiam multorum captum mirabiliter eruditus qui parte Asiae meliore semel iterumque peragrata, magnas et Syriacae et Arabicae linguae opeis consectatus minime vulgare nobis attulit adiumentum: … .” Novum Testamentum Syriace a … Widmanstadio (Vienna, 1555), sig. A****2V. Also see Postel's remarks to Ferdinand, The British Library, Sloane ms. 1413, fol. 87; note also Kuntz, , Guillaume Postel, p. 117.Google Scholar
35 Postel wrote: “Syriaca enim lingua et pictura est, qua videlicet lingua Dominus noster una cum virgine Matre sua vsus est praedicando Euangeiium, cuius exemplar pridem ex oriente attuleram prius quam Viennae Austriae excuderetur.” The British Library, Sloane ms. 1413, fol. 105.
36 Postel dedicated his Clarissima et ex Aristotelis verbis sententiisque, hoc est maxime Naturalibus Rationibus deducta Demonstratio … to Widmanstadt. See Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, ms. Oefeleana 262, fol. 1v. Postel wrote of his hasty departure from Vienna: “Or pour autant, questant ainsi alle a Vienne j'entendis pour … certein quhom havoit a Venize de par la court de Rome imprime un certein catalogue d'Escrivains ou scripteurs quhom nomoit Heretikes, et que J'entendis que au lieu des Escriptz de Postel, le propre Nom et la persone de Postel estoit imprime ou pour simprimer bien tost, Je laissay a Vienne le Roy ses gages et mon entreprise, et (qui fut une oeuvre la plus necessaire qui iamais fut ou pouroit estre, rompue et delaisse a cause de la Romaine iniquite) cessant le commencement de limprimerie de lArabike Evangile, ie men revins a Venize la ou ledict Evangile premierement havoit par moy este apporte.” Bibliothèque Nationale, Fonds lat. 3402, fols. 10-11. Widmanstadt also noted in the praefatio of his Novum Testamentum (see above, n. 34) the reason for Postel's departure.
37 “La cause de ma venue et retour a Venize estoit pour obvier a ce Cathalogue la ou la Persone propre de Postel estoit en nombre, et non pas ses escriptz, qui est la plus grande faulsete du monde.” Bibliothèque Nationale, Fonds lat. 3402, fol. 11. Postel's name and his books appeared in the Cathalogus Librorum Haereticorum … (Venetiis apud Gabrielem Iulitum de Ferraris, et Fratres MDLIIII), which was promulgated by Filippo Archinto. In the copy of the Cathalogus which is in the Biblioteca Marciana (Misc. 2176, opuscoli 10), there is a handwritten statement which confirms Archinto's role: “II Prete Antonio Possevino de la Compagnia del Jesu nel suo Apparato sacro attribuisce questo Catalogo di libri Heretici a M. Giovanni de la Casa: Ma nell’ Anno 1554 ch'è stampato, era Nuntio del Papa in Venetia Monsignore Lodovico Beccadelli Arcivescouo di Ragusi, al quale pare che suceddessi M. Filippo Archinto… .“Also note Saggio di bibliografia veneziana composto da Emmanuele Antonio Cicogna (Venezia, 1847), p. 127, no. 865: “Il secondo indice (per quanto ci consta) che uscì fra noi nel 1554, per ordine dell'altro Nuncio apostolico Filippo Archinto, ha il seguente frontispizio Catalogus librorum haereticorum … apud Gabrielem Julitum de Ferraris et Fratres MDLIIII in 8.” For information about the complex relationship between Archinto and Postel, see Kuntz, M. L., “Filippo Archinto and Guillaume Postel: New Evidence about Archinto's Role in the Imprisonment of Postel,” Studi Veneziani, N. S. 11 (1986) 73–90.Google Scholar Also see Stella, Aldo, “Il processo veneziano di Guglielmo Postel,” Rivista di storia della chiesa in Italia, 22 (1968), 430-31.Google Scholar
38 Postel wrote of his imprisonment thus: ”… je fus declare fol ou comme en Latin portoit ma sentence, Amens, et ayant este quelque temps a Venize, en estroitte prison, fus envoye a Rome … (non pas de tour de None ou de Castel S. Angelo comme diet le Marchant de Lyon …) et demandant Audiencey ay ceste plus de troys ans et demy, jusques a ce qu'au jour que le Pape Charaffe avoit delibere de me mettre en un confinement ou a la mort, il mourut a lheure propre que je fus moy 85me delivre de la prison de ripette, non pas de tour de None.” Bibliothèque Nationale, Fonds lat. 3402, fol. 11. See also The British Library, Sloane ms. 1413, fol. 44.
39 See Degl'Istorici delle cose veneziane, i quali hanno scritto per publico decreto, Tome Sesto … dal Senatore Andrea Morosini (Venice, 1718), p. 151.
40 See Kuntz, , Guillaume Postel, p. 35, also n. III.Google Scholar
41 See Rekkers, B., Benito Arias Montano, p. 51.Google Scholar
42 See della Vida, Giorgio Levi, Ricerche, p. 305, n. 4.Google Scholar
43 The manuscript of Masius’ Syriac Grammar is found in the Bibliothèque Royale Albert ler, Bruxelles, ms. 416.
44 “Sed ut Judaei, ita Syri quoque accuratissimo illo scribendi genere in sola sacrorum librorum scriptura vtuntur, atque vtinam etiam usus fuisset ille librarius, qui in urbe Mozal ad flumen Tigrim exemplar illud noui testamenti scripsit: de quo id optimi et benignissimi Caesaris Ferdinandi liberalitate, et Mosis Mardeni industria typis est expressum, quod unum nos habemus: … .” Ibid.
45 “… neque ullius hominis, quae sequar, vestigia hac in re ante me video. Sed exstat a Syris ipsis conscripta Grammatica; eius expectatione desiderium absolutions doctrinae poterunt lenire ii, in quibus est istarum rerum studium. Spes enim est, eam aliquando prodituram in lucem. Nam Moses Mardenus cum ipsam et simul dictionarium, ut vocant, Syricorum vocabulorum ex Assyria secum asportasset Venetiisque reliquisset et proinde mihi, qui ipsum Romae priuatim interdum audiebam doctorem, eorum librorum copiam facere non potuisset, post Roma Viennam profectus Ioanni Alberto Widmanstadio utrumque descripsit ut mihi suis Uteris significant.” Ibid.
46 Rekkers, B., Benito Arias Montano, p. 55.Google Scholar
47 Although the Louvain and Paris Censors had approved the Polyglot which was printed in Antwerp in 1571, the Papal approbation was not granted until September, 1571. See Rekkers, B., Benito Arias Montano, pp. 49–56.Google Scholar
48 Ibid., p. 54.
49 See Leon Voet, The Golden Compasses, II, 80. Postel was also among the first in Europe to use Arabic type. See Kuntz, , Guillaume Postel, p. 116.Google Scholar
50 “Sed quia in eo statu sum (vtinam summae et in arduo positae virtutis meritis, …) ut maxime viuens satagensque rerum diuinarum humanarumque, nullus, et Amentis instar, mortuo deterior sum, cogor ut aliena opera fiant quae procuro.” The British Library, Sloanems. 1413, fol. 105.
51 “Unus ex meis praefuit editioni tam Thargumi totius quam Syriaci Noui Testamenti. Nomen eius vobis nondum innotuit, est enim juuenis admodum et etiam fratre juniore praeditus (huic Nicolao, seniori autem Guidoni Fabricio nomen est) qui ita callet linguam Christianam illam, ut si auditor uterque Christi docentis fuisset. Sic fungor vice cotis, et qui veritate non valeo, occasione, ut dicebat Paulus, doceo.” The British Library, Sloanems. 1413, fol. 105.
52 Ibid.
53 “In ipsius IESU Christi summam et Renovatam Gloriam, Laudem, et illustrationem, ex Ierosolymitana peregratione, propria in lingua IESU Christo et Mariae Virgini tunc vulgari, Novum Testamentum ab hoc Asino, qui in Gloria summa sua ponit id nominis, ut portet Deum Verum IESUM Christum et glorificet in suo corpore, delatum est, ut tarn ex hac Occasione Viennae Austriae ubi … solus Widmanstadius Cancellarius nomen et Famam detulit, secunda Editio Antwerpiae non sine cura nostra licet Fabricii fratres … Guido et Nicolaus sed magis ille suas operas Christo gratis locarent. Nam a Rege Hiberorum cui honor operis datur, ne obulum quidem unquam accepere.” Bibliotheque Nationale, Fonds lat. 3401, fol. 35.
54 Ibid.
55 Kuntz, M., “Journey as Restitutio in the Thought of Guillaume Postel (1510-1581),” History of European Ideas, no. 4 (Spring, 1981), 1–15.Google Scholar
56 See Kuntz, , Guillaume Postel, pp. 143-51.Google Scholar For the most complete account of the East's contribution to the West, see Lach, Donald F., Asia in the Making of Europe (Chicago, 1970), I—IIGoogle Scholar; note especially II. 2, 257-85, 320-23.
57 See above, p. 1.
58 See above, p. 1.
59 See above, n. 7.
60 “Postel was corresponding with Jacobus Laynez in 1562, seventeen years after his separation from the Society of Jesus. See Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu, Epp. Extr. 46, fols. 248-50. A Jesuit was with Postel on the day of his death. See Bibliothèque Nationale, Fonds Dupuy 630, fol. 125. For Postel's relations with the Jesuits see Bernard-Maitre, Henri S. J., “Aux Origines françaises de la compagnie de Jésus: L'Apologie de Guillaume Postel, à la fin de l'année 1552,” Recherches de science réligieuse, 38, no. 3-4 (1952), 209-33Google Scholar; “Le Passage de Guillaume Postel chez les premiers Jésuites de Rome,” Mélanges d'histoire littéraire de la renaissance offerts à Henri Chamard (Paris, 1951), pp. 227-43; Secret, François, “Les Jésuites et le kabbalisme chrétien à la renaissance,” Bibliothèque d'humanisme et renaissance, 20, 543-55.Google Scholar Tacchi-Venturi, Pietro, Storia delta Compagnia di Gesu in Italia, II.2, 101-106Google Scholar; see also Kuntz, , Guillaume Postel, pp. 58–63.Google Scholar
61 Wolfenbuttel, ms. 3.1.300. Aug. fol. See above, n. 9.
62 “Dolet quidem vehementer quod exemplaria ilia Syriaca quae attuli tibi non sint data sicut et promissa. Sed sis omnino certissimus ne Iodo quidem uno differe ab eo exemplari Mosis Mesopotamii, quo usi sumus ad emittendum typis. Nam una cum eo contuleram meum, eo quod antiquius videbatur suum esse, et ne litera quidem una differre comperi, licet meum exemplar Damasci sim nactus, suum autem Meredini sit scriptum, in media Mesopotamia… . “ Bibliothèque Nationale, Fonds lat. 3402, fol. 91.
63 See della Vida, Giorgio Levi, Ricerche, pp. 304–306 Google Scholar; also see n. 4 on pp. 304-305. Of this manuscript Guy Lefèvre de la Boderie wrote: ”… atque cum vetustissimo exemplari Syro, iam ab anno 1500, regni Alexandri, a quo Syri annos suos numerant, manuscripto religiose contuli. Illud autem vetustissimum exemplar allatum fuerat ex Oriente a Postello, sumptibus, ut ipsemet scribit viri optimi et doctissimi Danielis Bombergi, ex Antverpia oriundi, cui Hebraicae et Chaldaicae linguae promotionem acceptam fere debemus, nobis autem commodatum est beneficio Danielis Bombergi, qui ut nominis, sic paternae virtutis haeres ad rem literariam provehendam studiosissime incumbit.” Cited by Levi della Vida, pp. 304-305.
64 Ibid., pp. 303-306. Levi della Vida has demonstrated that the codex used by Tremellius was different from the codex used by Postel and Guy Lefèvre in preparing the text of the Plantin Bible in Paris in 1568, since, as Levi della Vida states, p. 305, “si trovava nella Biblioteca Palatina di Heidelberg fin dal 1555, quando il Fabricio non aveva che quattro anni … .” Hence, he concludes, “… il codice usato dal Fabricio dev'essere stato diverso dal Vat. Sir. 16 … .” Ibid.
65 See Dearing, Vinton A., Principles and Practice of Textual Analysis (Berkeley, 1974), pp. 5–8.Google Scholar
66 See Franklin, Alfred, Les Anciennes bibliothèques de Paris, II (Amsterdam, 1968), 134-35, 252-57.Google Scholar One of Postel's works was dedicated to Guillaume du Prat, a famous Jesuit at the Collège de Clermont.
67 See de Chaufepié, Jacques Georges, Nouveau dictionnaire historique et critique, p. 222; also p. 233.Google Scholar
68 See Secret, F., L'Ésotérisme de Guy Le Fèvre de la Boderie, pp. 23–24.Google Scholar
69 See F. Secret, “Les Jésuites et le kabbalisme Chrétien à la renaissance,” p. 542-55, especially p. 554.
70 See above, n. 8.
71 See della Vida, Giorgio Levi, Ricerche, p. 305.Google Scholar
72 See above, n. 62.
73 “Sed posteritati curabit aut asservari Dominus aut perire, quum pro eius honore scribere sategerim et longe plura ex Naturalis Rationis usu a Christi Doctrina numquam recedente quam ex authoritate.” The British Library, Sloane ms. 1413, fol. 105.