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Literary Intelligence.

JUST PUBLISHED.

CLASSICAL.

Stephens' Greek Thesaurus, Nos. VII. and VIII. i. e. Part VI. of Lex. and Part II. of Gloss. The present price is 1. 5s. small, and 27. 12s. 6d. large paper; and will soon be advanced to 11. 7s. and 2/. 15s.

The Delphin and Variorum Classics, Parts III. and IV. Pr. 17. Is. small, and 21. 2s. large paper. V. and VI. will be delivered this month. The price will be raised hereafter. Very few copies are unsubscribed. Present Subscription 908.

Mr. Carson of Edinburgh has just published an edition of Tucitus for Schools, in One Volume Octavo.

Dissertation sur le passage du Rhône et des Alpes par Annibal (par le Comte de Fortia d'Urban.) Seconde édition, avec une

Carte. Paris 1819, 8vo.

Strabonis a Corayq editi Tomus Quartus et ultimus.

The Third Volume of Clavier's Pausanias is now printing. Notice sur quelques Monumens Anciens situés dans les environs de Genève; par Eusèbe Salverte. Genève 1819.

Etymological French Dictionary. CHARLES POUGENS, a Member of the Royal Academy of Inscr. and Belles Lettres, has addressed a letter to Professor Wyttenbach of Leyden, developing the plan of a work, which if executed with ability equal to the vigor of the conception, will be of considerable importance not only to scholars in his own country, but in every other. The design must at least be well matured, as it appears to have been not merely in contemplation, but in progress of execution, since 1771. It is to be entitled "Dictionnaire des Origines de la Langue Française" forming Six Folio Volumes; comprising, 1st. the Opinions of all preceding Etymologists; a Comparison of the principal, with a Discussion of their Opinions: 2d. The Author's own Decision: Sd. Researches on the Origin and History of Words; not applying to European languages exclusively, but to others whence he derives those existing in French. Subjoined to this Dictionary is to be placed a Polyglott Vocabulary of words of

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the first necessity, supposed to be necessary to man in the rudest state; amounting in number to about 300.

Of this. Thesaurus, an abridgment is also in contemplation, forming at most 3 vols. in quarto, designed to contain, 1st. The Grammatical Classification of each word with its original application. 2d. A Summary Extract of its Etymology; but fuller than in Dr. Johnson's of our own tongue. 3rd. The Definitions. On this part, as being the most difficult and of the most direct utility, the author appears to have bestowed the greatest pains. Our errors when not physical or moral arise, he says, from errors in language, the abuse of words, and false applications of them. Ten years of his life have been occupied in an attentive perusal of the principal Classical Authors in his language, whom he reckons about 65 from these he has culled a series of detached phrases, giving the particular acceptations of every word. These extracts exceed in number 300,000: and a selection has been made from them, already arranged alphabetically, and distributed in registers. By the aid of these he deduces definitions in most cases, he hopes, tolerably exact. He has himself been often surprised at the number of Nuances, of which, under the pen of able writers, each word is susceptible. These researches are quite terminated. Intelligenzblatt, Jena. A. L. Z. October 1818.

BIBLICAL.

Vetus Testamentum Græcum cum Variis Lectionibus. Editionem a Roberto HOLMES, S. T. P. inchoatam continuavit Jacobus PARSONS, S. T. B. Tomus Secundus. Oxonii, e Typographeo Clarendoniano. 1818.

The progress of this work, from its commencement to the death of Dr. Holmes, and the publication of several succeeding fasciculi, have been already noticed in the Classical Journal, and are already well known to the public. Dr: H. died in 1805, at which time nothing more had been published than the Pentateuch, forming the 1st volume, and the book of Daniel in a separate fasciculus: viz. Genesis 1798. Exodus 1801. Levit. 1802. Numb. 1803. and Deuteronomy (completing the volume) 1804; though the date 1798 is improperly affixed to the general title. The book of Daniel was published only a few months before his death. And here was suddenly broken off a laborious and expensive work: but as a considerable sum of money had been subscribed both for the purpose of carrying on the collations abroad, and also for publishing them on the plan suggested by Dr. H., and as the delegates of the University Press had not only contributed largely to that subscription, but undertaken also to continue the

work, if possible, in case of Dr. H.'s death; they engaged the present Editor for the fulfilmeut of this object: by him has been published the volume, which forms the subject of the following Notice. In its present form it consists of more than 800 folio pages, and comprehends all the Historical Books from Joshua, to the second Book of Chronic. inclusively; the several fasciculi of which came out in the following order: Joshua 1810; Judges and Ruth 1812; and the six remaining books in the 5 years following: the whole being printed off soon after Christmas 1817, and nearly ten years from the time when the editor first entered on his task. To those who are not acquainted with the extent of Dr. H.'s plan, nor with the difficulties under which his successor has labored in carrying it on, it may appear extraordinary that no further progress has been made in a work, which must still be considered as imperfect, and for the final completion of which some years are yet required. But avoiding all discussions of this nature, let us proceed to examine the materials of the present Vol. and the uses which may be made of them. These materials we shall arrange (according to the order in which they are placed in the preface to each fasciculus) under the several heads of MSS. editions, fathers, and versions.

1. In addition to a great number of the same MSS. as are employed in the former volume, the present is also enriched with the collations of several curious and important MSS. the various readings of which have never been given in any edition of the Septuagint. As, 1. for the books of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth, Codex Dorothei iv. Vat. 331. 1746. (Dorotheus was a Divine, who at that time held a high ecclesiastical office in Moldavia. The MSS. furnished by him were conveyed to Wittemberg, where they were collated for this work by Professor Matthiæ.) 2. For Ruth, and the following books-Codex i. D. ii. Musæi Britannici. This has been sometimes called the Arundelian MS., and seems to have been copied from one in the uncial character. It contains two different copies of the book of Esther, one of which is according to the Hexaplar Text of Origen: they were both published by Archbishop Ussher at the end of his Syntagma de Græca LXX. Interpp. Versione. Londini, 1655. See Pref. to Lowth's Isaiah. 3. For the

Books of Kings.-Codex Biblioth. Paris. viii. Sæc. x.

Biblioth. Escurial. . ii. 19. Sæc. xi. xiii. -Biblioth. Paris. olim Medicæus. Sæc. x. (ut videtur.) Dorothæi v. Sæc. xi.

Codex Biblioth. publicæ Basiliensis, signatus B. vi. 22. -Coislinian. viii. Sæc. x. Lectionibus Aquila, Theodotionis et Symmachi imprimis refertum.

Codex Biblioth. Cæsar. Vindob. mediocriter antiquus.

Vaticanus 333. Sæc. x. circ.

334. Ætat. fere ejusdem. 1238. Sæc. xiii.

Urbinato-Vatican. Sæc. x. &c.

For the 2 books of Chronicles, Codex antiquus Biblioth. publicæ Cantabrigiensis, quondam Theodori Archiepiscopi Cantuariensis Sæc. vii. (There is an imperfect collation of this MS. annexed to Walton's Polyglott.)

Beside these and several other MSS. in the Greek Language, we have also in the 4th book of Kings, a collation of the celebrated Syro-Hexaplar MS. in the Royal Library, Paris, of which P. J. Bruns extracted the various readings for the use of Dr. Kennicott, and has since reprinted in the Repertor. pro Biblic. et Orient. Liter. Tom. VIII. The importance of this MS. is considerable in many respects, and is indeed evident on inspecting the Margin and Appendix of the volume before us. For 1. it proves many readings of the different texts of what is called the Septuagint Version to have been taken from Aquila, Symmachus, &c. and consequently justifies the assertion of those who affirm that all our present copies of this version, are mixed and confounded with those of the other Interpreters. (See Hody de Textibus p. 634, Carpzov. Crit. Sacr. p. 540. Ed. Lips. 1728. Eichhorn. Einleit. in das A. T. Tom. 1. p. 366, &c). 2. It supplies many readings of these Interpreters (Aquila, &c.) which are not to be found elsewhere, and may therefore be of great service in correcting and augmenting the collection of Hexaplar Fragments made by Montfaucon, &c. 3. It shows that the hypothesis commonly received in respect to the contents of those versions, called Editio 5ta, 6ta, 7ma, is not founded in fact. And 4. it not only discovers the origin of certain readings in the Alexandrine copy, (see chap. xvi. 9.) but also establishes several others in conformity to the Masoretic Hebrew, against the authority of less ancient MSS. both Greek and Hebrew, and corresponding with the text of the Complut. edition, even when unsupported by any other MS. (see chap. xiii. 25. chap. xv. 10. chap. xix. 32, &c.

2. The editions collated in this volume are, with the exception of the Paulino-Lipsiens. (Fischer), which goes no further than the Pentateuch, the same as those cited by Dr. H. viz. the Complutensian, Aldine, Alexandrine, or Grabe's, and that which forms the text of the Catena Nicephori. It is well known that for many years great prejudices prevailed against the Complut. Edition. It was not considered as a Critical Edition because it was not known from what MSS. its text was taken; it was moreover believed that the Editors, without adhering to any particular copy,

extracted from all of them, or even from commentaries, such readings as came neareast to the Hebrew; and that they wilfully corrupted the Greek Version to render it conformable to the Vulgate. From the volume before us it will appear that these charges, though sometimes true, are not so in general. The text of the Complut. Edition follows so closely that of MSS. 19. 82. 93. 108. (in Catalog. Holm.) throughout the several books of this vol. that it must evidently have been taken from the same original prototypes. Moreover where it differs from the Roman Edition, it is in very numerous instances supported not only by the Aldine and Alexandrine texts, but also by that of the Codex Coislinian. num. 1. one of the oldest and most highly esteemed MSS. extant. (See Repertor. pro Bibl. et Or. Liter. Tom. 11. p. 196). In not a few passages the text is as evidently altered by the Editors, to make it agree with the Hebrew, and especially with the Vulgate. Among the most remarkable of this kind may be reckoned, 1 Reg. vi. 1, &c.-2 Reg. xv. 7. xvi. 16-3 Reg. i. S. ii. 1. ix. 8. xii. 18. xv. 22. xvi. 34-1 Paralip. x. 18-2 Paralip. xiv. 12. To make these facts more clear, the present Editor has found it expedient frequently to cite the Vulgate, though citations from that Edition are not included any more than from St. Hierom) in the plan of Dr. H.

The Aldine Edition has also been represented as containing frequent Glosses, (glossemata), together with a mixture of several different Versions, and Interpolations even from the N. T. Its text however is here satisfactorily traced to MSS. 64. 120. 121, &c. (Holm.) and it also agrees in many instances both with the Complut. and Alexandr. Copies, and with Codex Coislin. 1. when all these disagree with the Roman Edition. See a remarkable instance of the agreement of the Ald. Ed. with the MSS. above mentioned in 4 Reg. iii. 2.

The prototype of Grabe's Edition, like the Roman, is principally one MS. which perhaps it would have been sufficient to have cited under the numerical sign III. But as Grabe has inserted numerous alterations into his text, taken from different sources, together with the ORIGENIAN Marks, without making his readers acquainted with the different degrees of authority due to such insertions, his text as it now stands can hardly be considered as a legitimate foundation for various readings.

Though the text of the Catena Nicephori comes very near to that of the Roman Edition, it is not precisely the same, nor has the source of it been exactly ascertained. But in the historical books of the Greek version it agrees so constantly with MSS. 209. 236. 237, &c. (Holm.) that little doubt can be entertained that it must have been derived from the same prototype, or exemplar, with these

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