Works of the Reverend and Learned John Lightfoot
by Reverend John Lightfoot
| Lightfoot's Works | |
 Title page from Lightfoot's Works, volume one, George Wythe Collection, Wolf Law Library, College of William & Mary. | |
| Author | Reverend John Lightfoot |
| Published | London: Printed by W. R. for Robert Scot, Thomas Basset, Richard Chiswell |
| Date | 1684 |
| Language | English, Latin, Greek, Hebrew |
| Volumes | 2 volume set |
| Desc. | Folio (40 cm.) |
| Location | Shelf A-5 |
John Lightfoot was born to a Vicar's family at Stoke-upon-Trent, Staffordshire on March 29, 1602.[1][2] He obtained his bachelor and masters degrees from Christ College in Cambridge, studying under William Chappel who later taught John Milton and Henry More.[3] He joined the church in 1622, settling first as curate at Norton-in-Hales, Shropshire and subsequently becoming chaplain for Sir Rowland Cotton Knight. Knight, a skilled student of Hebrew, inspired Lightfoot to resume his own study of the language.[4] After some time in Shropshire, Lightfoot spent a few years moving around different parishes. He settled at the rectory of Ashley, Staffordshire and stayed there from 1630 to 1642.[5] He moved to London in 1642 and became a Member of the Assembly of Divines at Westminster and minister of the parish of St. Bartholomews.[6] During this time, Lightfoot often disagreed and argued with his fellow members about various Church decisions and protocols.[7] Lightfoot moved to the rectory of Great Munden, Hertfordshire in 1643.[8] A supporter of the parliamentary side in the Civil War, Lightfoot became master of St. Catherine Hall, Cambridge in 1650 and five years later was named vice-chancellor.[9] Lightfoot authored numerous works, first publishing Erubhin, or Miscellanies Christian and Judaicall a study of Jewish customs and the Talmud in 1629.[10] Other titles followed and between 1658 and 1678, he published Horae Hebraicae et Talmudicae, "his most important Biblical study."[11] He died on December 6, 1675 after a short illness.[12]
The Works of the Reverend and Learned John Lightfoot is a collection of Reverend Lightfoot's previous and unpublished works which were published posthumously.[13] The book is made of two volumes which are further subdivided into eleven sections, ten tables, seven exercitations, and a hand drawn map of Jerusalem.[14] Both volumes deal with analyzing the Bible, including the Old Testament and the New Testament.[15] The beginning of the book is a biography about Lightfoot which seems to have been done by various friends. The works that Lightfoot display, mixes theology with rabbinical history to try to gain more knowledge about the Bible and the lives of those in it.[16]
Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library
Wythe's copy survives at the Library of Congress, with an 1815 bookplate. Volume one has Wythe's signature on the title page, and manuscript notes, throughout.[17] However, it is not listed on Jefferson's copy of the inventory of books he inherited from George Wythe in 1806.
George Wythe Munford (1803 – 1882), the son of one of Wythe's students, William Munford, twice mentions in The Two Parsons (1884) that in his later life George Wythe had studied Hebrew with a rabbi named Seixas in Richmond, Virginia.[18]
Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy
Rebound in half calf leather, with gilt titles to red labels and five raised bands to the spines. Previous owner's signature on title page of volume two: "Henr Turner: ex AElxis(?)."
Images of the library's copy of this book are available on Flickr. View the record for this book in William & Mary's online catalog. See the table of contents for works included in this set.
See also
References
- ↑ Lightfoot, John (1602–1675)" in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, accessed March 7, 2023.
- ↑ J. Strype, "Some Account of the Life of the Reverend and Most Learned John Lightfoot D.D.," in The Works of the Reverend and Learned John Lightfoot by John Lightfoot (London: W.R. for Robert Scot, Thomas Basset, Richard Chiswell, 1684): i.
- ↑ "Lightfoot, John (1602-1675)."
- ↑ "John Lightfoot" in Christian Classics Ethereal Library (Accessed December 6, 2018).
- ↑ Strype, "Some Account of the Life," iii.
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Ibid, iii-v.
- ↑ "John Lightfoot."
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ "Lightfoot, John (1602–1675)."
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Lightfoot, The Works of the Reverend and Learned John Lightfoot.
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Lightfoot, The Works of the Reverend and Learned John Lightfoot.
- ↑ Library of Congress catalog record.
- ↑ George Wythe Munford, The Two Parsons; Cupid's Sports; The Dream; and The Jewels of Virginia (Richmond, Virginia: J.D.K. Sleight, 1884), 364, 417.
External links
- Table of contents and text at Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership.
- Read volume one of this work at Hathitrust.
