The Genuine Works of Flavius Josephus, the Jewish Historian. Translated from the Original Greek
London: W. Bowyer for the author, 1737. First Whiston edition. Hardcover. Folio (37.3 by 22.8 cm). Signatures: [A]2 a-2c2 2d4 2e-2p2 B-13A2. [4], cvi, *cv-*cviii, [1], cviii-clii, 1021, [83: indices; addenda; errata; catalogue of Whiston's writings] pp. 1 engraved folding map; 1 engraved plate of the Jewish Temples, with notes. Complete with half-title. Contemporary calf (worn and stained), professionally rebacked to style, with repairs to corners and fills to covers. Map with small repair to verso. Temple plate (mounted), with 8 cm clean tear in text. Occasional light to moderate toning/foxing. Overall a very good, amply-margined copy, in a restored binding.
First edition of William Whiston's English translation, founded upon the Greek edition of Josephus edited by Siwart Havercamp in 1726. As Thomas Hartwell Horne noted in 1839, Havercamp's critical edition was generally considered the best on account of its completeness, though the Greek text contained many errors. Earlier English translations had been made by Thomas Lodge -- The Famous and Memorable Workes of Josephus (London, 1602); and Sir Roger L'Estrange -- The Works of Flavius Josephus (London, 1702). Lodge's version relied "mainly upon the Latin of Gelenius, printed at Geneva in 1595, with constant suggestions from the French of Antoine de la Faye (Paris, 1597)" (Lathrop). It was exceedingly popular -- one would have to say a best-seller of the early modern era -- and was reprinted at least nine times throughout the seventeenth century.
Regarding Whiston's version, William T. Lowndes noted in 1834 that this "admirable translation far exceeds all preceding ones, and has never been equaled by any subsequent attempt of this kind." Heinz Schreckenberg greatly enlarges upon the signifacance and influence of the present English version of the first century Jewish historian: "The importance of this incredibly frequently reprinted translation can hardly be overestimated (Die Bedeutung dieser ungemein oft nachgedruckten Übersetzung kann kaum überschätzt werden). In the Anglo-American world, Josephus has become a kind of household book alongside the Bible thanks to Whiston. The fact that in English Protestantism Josephus was "permitted reading" alongside the Bible on Sunday is certainly important for this... Josephus has always been seen as a welcome addition and continuation of the biblical accounts. It seems that this historical interest has a new beginning with the Reformation and is greatly promoted by it. Indeed, it is precisely reformers (Kaspar Hedion) and Protestant theologians and preachers (Cotta; Lautenbach) who propagate knowledge of Josephus in German-speaking countries through their translations. Whiston expresses the widespread, strong effort to claim the Jewish Josephus for church and salvation history by making him [in Dissertation VI] the Christian bishop of Jerusalem [!]."
As noted in the introduction to a recent collection of essays on Josephus' importance for historical studies, his ongoing influence upon, and central position within, contemporary scholarship is astonishing: "Josephus supports an entire world of research which encompasses Biblical studies, Jewish history, Hellenistic and Roman history, New Testament studies, Jewish Thought and Philosophy, Land of Israel studies, Classical languages, and of course the study of Josephus himself as both historian and public man" (Pastor). Item #54468
References: L. W. Brueggemann, English Editions of the Ancient Greek and Latin Authors (Stettin, 1797), pp. 298-299; ESTC T112661; T. H. Horne, Biblical Bibliography (London, 1839), p. 235; H. B. Lathrop, Translations from the Classics into English (New York, 1967), pp. 251-252; W. T. Lowndes, Bibliographer's Manual (London, 1885), p. 1235; J. Pastor, et al., Flavius Josephus: Interpretation and History (Leiden, 2011), p. 1; H. Schreckenberg, Bibliographie zu Flavius Josephus (Leiden, 1968), pp. 42-44.
Full title and imprint: The Genuine Works of Flavius Josephus, the Jewish Historian. Translated from the Original Greek, According to Havercamp's Accurate Edition. containing twenty books of the Jewish antiquities, with the appendix, or Life of Josephus, written by himself. seven books of the Jewish war, and two books against Apion. Illustrated with new plans and descriptions of the tabernacle of Moses, and of the temples of Solomon, Zorobabel, Herod, and Ezekiel, and with correct maps of Judea and Jerusalem : Together with proper Notes, Observations, Contents, Parallel Texts of Scripture, Five Compleat Indexes, and the True Chronology of the Several Histories adjusted in the Margin. To this Book Are Prefixed Eight Dissertations ... with an Account of Jewish Coins, Weights, and Measures. London: Printed by W. Bowyer for the Author: and are to be sold by John Whiston, Bookseller, at Mr. Boyle's Head: Fleetstreet. MDCCXXXVII.
Price: $1,650.00