The first production of this kind, relating to the Bi- ble, of which we have any definite knowledge, aside from those purely lexical, was the Onomasticon of Eu' sebius, edited and translated by Jerome, which, how- ever, was merely geographical, and embraced Pales- tine only. It has been of great service, nevertheless, to all writers since on Biblical topography. Jerome likewise prepared a treatise of less value on the He- brew proper names occurring in the Scriptures (Z)s Nominibus Hebraicis, in vol. iii of his works. No. 15) chiefly from materials previously afibrded by Philo Ju- dsBUs and Origen ; likewise the biographies of emi- nent early Christians (/>e Viris Illustribus, vol. ii, pt. ii of his works). After this, however, no work worthy of note belonging to the class we are considering ap- peared till the renewal of Biblical learning after the Reformation. The following are those of leading im- portance and celebrity.
(1.) Aug. Calm et (q. v.), Dictionnaire Historique, Critique, CTironologiqua, Giograpkiqu^, et lAUerale de la Bible (Paris, 1722, 2 vols., and [most complete] 1780, 4 vols. fol.). '* This work was composed in a great de- gree out of the materials already used by the author in the notes, dissertations, and prefaces of his great work, the Commentcdre LitUrale, The first translation of it appeared in 1732, in three large and costly folio volumes, executed by two clergymen, Samuel d'Oy- ley and John Colson, the former of whom translated to the letter M, and the other to the end of the book. This translation formed the great treasury from which were drawn the materials of the large number of less- er dictionaries of the Bible which subsequently ap- peared. These exhibited little more diversity from each other than such as naturally arises where persons of different habits of mind form different abridgments of the same work, the ori^al or new matter being chiefly constituted by the interspersion of doctrinal ar- ticles in support of the particular views which the com-
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pQer enterUined. At length a new edition of Calmet was undertaken by Mr. Charles Taylor, and appeared in 1795 in four, and in later editions in five, quarto volumes. This was a veiy eccentric performance, composed thus : two volumes consisted of an abridg- ment of Calmet, one volume of engravings, and two volumes of * Fragments.* These fragments contain- ed a sprinlding of useful matter drawn Arom histories and travels ; but three fourths of the whole consist of singularly wild and fonciful speculations respecting mythology, ethnology, natural history, antiquities, and sundry otlier matters, and are replete with un- sound learning, .outrageous etymologies, and the vaga- ries of an undisciplined intellect. Calmet, thus trans- formed, and containing as much of the editor as of the original author, has in its turn formed the basis of nearly all the Biblical dictionaries which luve since appeared, including a very painstaking digest of the more useful parts of Taylor's matter incorporated with the dictionary under one alphabet, the whole abridged into one volume royal 8vo, which appeared in 1832. This work was in the same year reproduced in Boston, under the supervision of Dr. £. Robinson, who made some few but valuable additions to particular articles*' (Kitto). Calmet'S own dictionary is still a standard work with Roman Catholics, and a modified edition of it is incorporated into the extensive series of Diction- aires Chritienne* lately published by the Abb6 Migne at Paris. It never was a profound work, however, and has now so far fallen behind the progress of Biblical science as to be of little use to the student beyond mere textual purposes.
(2.) Although the work of Calmet was the most learned and practically useful of all similar produc- tions that had hitherto appeared, yet the partial stand- point of the author rendered it unsuited to the en- larged demands of the present age, which, with the superficiality and want of plan In later works, had brought performances of this kind into some disrepute ; and it was reserved for Dr. G. B.Winer (q. v.), a learned theologian of Leipsic, to restore them to their former credit by his Biblisches Real-wQrterbuch (Leipz. 1820, 2 vols. 8vo), of which a second and improved edi- tion was published in 1833-88, and a third, still ftirther enlarged, in 1848. This is a wholly original work, ex- ecuted in the most careful and scholarly manner, and nearly exhaustive, although in a very condensed form, of the classical and earlier modem illustrations of Bib- lical topics. It is a masterly performance of its kind, and has been of very great service in the compilation of the present Cy clopiedia. "The sphere of Winer' s work is, however, narrowly drawn, being designed altogether for students. The critical treatment in it is of a very unequal character, and many of the subjects examined in its pages, especially in the department of natural his- tory, have little relation to the Bible." Similar publi- cations by various other writers have been produced on the Continent of Europe, but they cannot be regard- ed as exhibiting equal claims to scientific criticism or well-considered arrangement. Several of these will be noticed below.
(3.) A great advance on all predecessors, constitut- ing, it may be said, a new era in the history of the subject, is marked by the appearance (Edinb. 1845, 2 vols. 8vo) of the Cyclopadia of Biblical Literature^ ed- ited by John KAtto, D.D. (q. v.), chiefly from the contributions of original articles by forty writers, in- cludmg many of the most eminent theologians and Biblical scholars of Protestantism in Great Britain, Germany, and America ; a duplicate edition was also issued in this country (N. Y. 1852). This work not only covers a larger range of topics connected with the Bible, in its archteology and introduction, but also handles each subject with a freshness and ability pre- viously unattempted. In the biography of Biblical characters, a department mostly occupied by the editor himself, the narratives are invested with an interest