[Tractatus ad Sacr. Bibliorum apparatum pertinentes]

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, 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.

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.