Case 13
- European Translations of 17th and 18th Centuries 5
![[Old Testament in Irish]. <em>Leabhuir na Seintiomna ar na ttarrving go gaidlig tre curam & dutras an Doctuir Uilliam Bedel ... The books of the Old Testament.</em> London: [Joseph Moxon], 1685.](https://www.reedgallery.co.nz/__data/assets/image/0007/564163/13a.jpg)
[Old Testament in Irish]. Leabhuir na Seintiomna ar na ttarrving go gaidlig tre curam & dutras an Doctuir Uilliam Bedel ... The books of the Old Testament. London: [Joseph Moxon], 1685.
This is
the first edition of the Old Testament in Irish. It was translated principally
by William Bedell (1571-1642), the eminent Bishop of Kilmore, who died from
injuries endured in the Irish Rebellion of 1641; though it was not printed
until more than forty years after his death.
Translated
primarily from the English Bible, this edition of about 500 copies was printed
with Irish type, like the New Testament of 1681, with which it is uniform. A
portion of the issue (perhaps 80 copies) was sent to parishes in Scotland for
use among the Highlanders.
[Old Testament in Irish]. Leabhuir na Seintiomna ar na ttarrving go gaidlig tre curam & dutras an Doctuir Uilliam Bedel ... The books of the Old Testament. London: [Joseph Moxon], 1685.
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![[Old Testament in Scottish Gaelic]. <em>Leabhraiche an t-Seann Tiomnaidh: air an tarruing o'n cheud chanain chum Gaelic Albannaich …</em> Clodh-bhuailte 'an Dun-Eidin [Edinburgh]: Le Uilliam Smellie, 1783.](https://www.reedgallery.co.nz/__data/assets/image/0008/564164/13b.jpg)
[Old Testament in Scottish Gaelic]. Leabhraiche an t-Seann Tiomnaidh: air an tarruing o'n cheud chanain chum Gaelic Albannaich … Clodh-bhuailte 'an Dun-Eidin [Edinburgh]: Le Uilliam Smellie, 1783.
On
display is the first of four volumes of the editio
princeps of the Old Testament in Scottish Gaelic, printed in an edition of
5,000 copies at Dun-Eidin, or Edinburgh, in 1783. It was translated from the
Hebrew by John Stuart (1743-1821), Minister of Luss, under the auspices of the
Scottish branch of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.
The
first New Testament in Scottish Gaelic had appeared in 1767, thus providing the
Highlanders with Holy Scriptures in their own dialect for the first time. Prior
to this date, many copies of the Irish Gaelic Scriptures had circulated among
the Gaelic-speaking population of Scotland.
[Old Testament in Scottish Gaelic]. Leabhraiche an t-Seann Tiomnaidh: air an tarruing o'n cheud chanain chum Gaelic Albannaich … Clodh-bhuailte 'an Dun-Eidin [Edinburgh]: Le Uilliam Smellie, 1783.
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