BOO 



prjAifird before tbofe timts among the Jews. Chrvfollom 

 {•'ved in the 4th century. Aquila. who is rhotight to have 

 K'-ed above too ytirs foontr, and is aliowtd to lif a moft 

 i-iofi tranflator of the Hebrew, ufts, ^ccorc^in^ Vi Bos, the 

 fone word tiXr^, or wrapper, to cxprcfa the H^hrcw word 

 w; traiiflattr vohime. He therefore fuppofcd thai what was 

 written, to whitli this p^^age refers, vs-as written on the 

 c.-)veri:';r or wrapper of the facred boiks. This e>:p!anfjtiiin 

 fiijjgefts a much more agreeable mode of renderiiijr the word 

 than our Engli'.h term ■vo/i.me ; fince every ancient Hebrew 

 book was a •.'olurae, or roli, ar^d ccnfequtntlv t!',e pHiTac^e 

 merdv espreifes ; "In the book it is written of me." But 

 if we iinderftand it of the cafi in which their books were 

 wrapped up, the thoyght is not only clear and diltincl, b-.t 

 very enerejetic, and amounts to this, that the fum and fnb- 

 ftance of the facred books is, that " the Mcfilah cometh ;" 

 and that thofe words accordingly might be wrote or em- 

 broidered, with great propriety, on the wrapper, or cafe in 

 in which they were kept. 



Another trandation i-er.ders the ward !v Tof<w, which in- 

 timates that tl'.. r:iotto was infcribcd on the cylinder, round 

 which books of this form were wort to be rolled. Tn this cafe, 

 it v.'3s probably written < n that part of the cylinder which 

 reached bevond the p.'.rchment, lir.cn, or whatever material 

 was iifed, and which was cor.ve: ient enough for cxhibicing, 

 in briif, what the purport of the volume was. Mr. Har- 

 mei-(Obf. on Script, vol. iv. p. 1 1 ) fuTgcfts, that the circle 

 of gold, with the name of one of our Saxon princes ucon it, 

 and o.rnamented after the mai^ier of thofe times, might be 

 V defigned to cafe the end of the cylinder, or one of the cylin- 

 ders, on which fome book belonging to that monarch, or 

 relating to him, was rolled ; of which ancient piece of gold 

 an engraving is given in the feventh volume of the Archxo- 

 logia, or Tranfa<£lions of the Antiquarian Society. This 

 fort of capping to thofe cylinders ufed to be called the 

 " Aeftel." 



To the form of books belongs alfo the economy of the in- 

 fih, or the order and arrangement of points and letters into 

 lines and pages, with margins, and other appurtenances. 

 This has undergone many varieties : at tirft, the letters 

 were only divided into lines, then into feparate words ; 

 which, by degrees, were noted with accents, and ditlributed, 

 by points and Hops into periods, paragraphs, chapters, and 

 other divif:ons. In fnme countries, as amon.^ the Orientals, 

 th.e hues began from the riglit, and ran to th.e left ; in 

 othere, as in Northern and Weilern nations, from the left to 

 right ; others, as the Grecians, followed both directions al- 

 ternately, going in the one, and returning in the other, 

 called boujlrophedon. In the Chinefe books, the lines ran 

 from top to bottom. Again, the page in fome is entire, 

 and uniform ; in others, divided into columns ; in others, 

 diitingv.ifhcd into te.^t and notes, either marginal, or at the 

 bottom : ufually it is furniihed with lignatures and catch- 

 words ; alfo with a regifter to difcorer whether the book 

 be complete. To thefc are occafionally added the apparatus 

 of fummavies, or fide note^ ; the embeliiflimcnts of red, 

 gold, or figured initial letters, head-pitces, tail-pieces, 

 effigies, fchemeS; maps, and tke li.'ce. The end of the 

 book, no\7 denoted by Jinis, was anciently marked with a 

 <!, called coron'ij, and the whole frequently waflied with 

 an oil drawn from cedar, or citron chips, (Irewed between 

 the leaves to preferve it from rotting. There alfo occur 

 certain formtde at the beginning and end of books ; as 

 among the Jews, the word p'n> C/^« for'.h, which we find 

 iX the end of the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, 

 Ezekiel, &c. to exhort the reader to be courageous, and 

 proceed on to the following book. The conclufions were 



BOO 



alfo often guarded with imprecations a^ainfl fuch as (liould 

 falfify them ; of which we have an infla-ice in the Apo- 

 calypfe. The Mahometans, for the like reafon, place the 

 natne of God at the- beginning tf all their books, which 

 caii-r.t fail to procure t-em prottdion, on account of the 

 niiniite regard had among them to that name, wherever 

 found. For the like reafon it 15, that divers of the laws of 

 the ancient emperors begin with the formula, In r.omh.e Dei. 

 At the end of each book the Jews alfo added t!ie number 

 of verfes contained in it, and at the end of the Pei.tateuch 

 the number of feclicns ; that it might be tranfmi'ted to 

 pofterity entire. The Maforetes and Mahometan doftors 

 have gone farther ; fo as to number the feveral words and 

 letters in each book, chapter, verfe, &c. of the Old Tefta- 

 ment, and the Alcoran. See Alcoran, Bible, Maisoka, 

 &c. 



The kinds and denominations of books are various. 



Books, with regard to their :ifc and authority, maybe, 

 divided into human and diiiine, alfo calledyj^rtJ and inrpirfd 

 books. 



Books, Sibylline., thofe compofed by certain pretended 

 prophetefTes, depofited in the Capitol, under the care of 

 duumitiri. See Sibyls. 



Books, Canonical, thofe received and allowed by the 

 ch-.irch as parts of holy fcripture. Such are the books of 

 the Old and New Teftamcnt, as commonly bound up toge- 

 ther. See Canon, and Bible. 



Books, apocryphal, thofe excluded out of the canon, 

 yet received and read in fome churches. See Apocav- 



PHAL. 



Books, Authentic, thofe which are decifive, and of autho- 

 rity : fuch, in the civil law, are the Code, Digeft, &c. 

 in our law, the Statutes, &c. Bacon de Augm. Sc. 1. 8. 

 c-3- 



Books, Auxiliary, thofe lefs eflential, yet of ufe, as fub- 

 fervient to the others : as in the ftudy of the law, books of 

 Inftitutes, Formuh-e, Maxims, Reports, &c. 



Books, Elementary, t'lofe which deliver the firft princi- 

 ples of fciences: fuch are thofe under the titles of Rudi- 

 ments, Methods, Grammars, &c. by which they (land con- 

 tradiilinguifncd from books of a fuperior order, which aim 

 at making farther advances in the fciences. 



Books, Library, fuch as are not ordinarily read over, but 

 turned to, and confulted occafionally ; fuch are diciion- 

 aries, &c. 



Books, Exoteric, thofe intended for the ufe of popular 

 and ordinary readers. 



Books, Acroamatic, thofe containing more fecret and fub- 

 lime matters, calculated for adepts and proficients in the 

 fubjed. 



Books, I^.ilUc, the records of paft times and tranfaftions 

 kept by puMic authority. 



Books, Church, ox Ecchfiajlical, thofe ufed in the public 

 offices of rehgion. 



Books, again, with regard to theiryj^o/c a/;,/y;,^fV^, niay 

 be divided into hijhrical, "thofe v\hicii relate faAs, either by 

 nature or mankind ; dogmatical, thofe which lay down 

 doctrines, or generil truths ; mifeilnneous, thofe of a neu- 

 tral kind, containing both facts and doftrines ; hifiorlco- 

 dogmatical, thofe which only rehenrfe doftrines, or, at 

 mofl, indicate the arguments by which they are proved, as 

 Mallet's Geometry ; fientijico-dogmalical, thofe which not* 

 only recite the dodlrines. but demcnlliatc them, as Euclid's 

 Elements. Wolf. Pnil. Rat. ^ 3. c. i. J ;.4, 750, 751, 

 &c. 



Books, Pontifical, zmong the Romans, were thofe a p. 

 pointed by Numa to be kept by the pntifcx maximus ; de- 



fcribing 



