Detail of a frontispiece shows four animals grouped between two pillars. In the background, castles sit on either side of a harbor where ships wait. Text in Latin.
Detail of a page that is split in half. The left portion of the page is designated to text in Hebrew while the right side shows text in Latin.
Detail of a page that is split in half. The left portion of the page is designated to text in Hebrew while the right side shows text in Latin.
Detail of a page that is split in half. The left portion of the page is designated to text in Latin while the right side shows text in Greek.

Biblia Sacra Hebraice, Chaldaice, Graece, & Latine Philippi II

1573

A polyglot or multilingual bible is a scientific edition of the bible in all the official source languages (Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic and Syriac) as well as the official Latin translation. The Plantin edition of the bible was printed between 1568 and 1572 in Antwerp and was supported by King Philip II of Spain. It is considered both an intellectual and typographic masterwork. During his lifetime, John Carter Brown was able to acquire all important early modern polyglot bibles, including this edition, namely the Alcálá dee Henares edition of 1516.

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