the eleventh century, may be ascribed to the scarcity of books during
that period, and the difficulty of rendering them more common,
concurring with other causes arising from the state of government and
manners. The Romans wrote their books either on parchment, or on paper
made of the Egyptian papyrus. The latter, being the cheapest, was of
course the most commonly used. But after the Saracens conquered Egypt,
in the seventh century, the communication between that country and the
people settled in Italy, or in other parts of Europe, was almost
entirely broken off, and the papyrus was no longer in use among them.
They were obliged on that account to write all their books upon
parchment; and as the price of that was high, books became extremely
rare and of great value. We may judge of the scarcity of materials for
writing them from one circumstance. There still remain several
manuscripts of the eighth, ninth, and following centuries, written on
parchment, from which some former writing had been erased, in order to
substitute a new composition in its place. Thus, it is probable, several
of the works of the ancients perished. A book of Livy or of Tacitus
might be erased, to make room for the legendary tale of a saint, or the
superstitious prayers of a missal. Nay, worse instances are recorded, of
obliterating copies of the Holy Scriptures to make room for the
lucubrations of some of the more modern fathers of the church.
Manuscripts thus defaced, the vellum or parchment of which is occupied
with some other writings, are called “palimpsests,” _codices rescripti_
or _palimpsesti_, from ϖαλίμψηϛος, “that which has been twice scraped.”
As this want of materials for writing will serve to account for the loss
of many of the works of the ancients, and for the small number of MSS.
previous to the eleventh century, many facts prove the scarcity of books
at this period. Private persons seldom possessed any books whatever; and
even monasteries of note had only one missal. In 1299, John de
Pontissara, bishop of Winchester, borrows of his cathedral convent of
St. Swithin, at Winchester, “_bibliam bene glossatam_,” that is, the
Bible, with marginal annotations, in two folio volumes; but gives a bond
for the return of it, drawn up with great solemnity. For the bequest of
this Bible to the convent, and one hundred marks, the monks founded a
daily mass for the soul of the donor. If any person gave a book to a
religious house, he believed that so valuable a donation merited eternal
salvation, and he offered it on the altar with great ceremony. The prior
and convent of Rochester declare, that they will every year pronounce
the irrevocable sentence of damnation on him who shall purloin or
conceal a Latin translation of Aristotle’s Poetics, or even obliterate
the title. Sometimes a book was given to a monastery, on condition that
the donor should have the use of it for his life; and sometimes to a
private person, with the reservation that he who receives it should pray
for the soul of his benefactor. In the year 1225, Roger de Insula, dean
of York, gave several Latin Bibles to the university of Oxford, on
condition that the students who perused them should deposit a cautionary
pledge. The library of that university, before the year 1300, consisted
only of a few tracts, chained or kept in chests, in the choir of St.
Mary’s church. The price of books became so high, that persons of a
moderate could not afford to purchase them. In the year 1174, Walter,
prior of St. Swithin’s at Winchester, purchased of the monks of
Dorchester, in Oxfordshire, Bede’s homilies, and St. Austin’s psalter
for twelve measures of barley and a pall, on which was embroidered in
silver the history of St. Birinus converting a Saxon king. About the
year 1400, a copy of John of Meun’s “Roman de la Rose” was sold before
the palace gate at Paris for forty crowns, or 33_l._ 6_s._ 6_d._ The
countess of Anjou paid, for a copy of the homilies of Haimon, bishop of
Halberstadt, two hundred sheep, five quarters of wheat, and the same
quantity of rye and millet. Even so late as the year 1471, when Louis
XI. of France borrowed the works of Rhasis, the Arabian physician, from
the faculty of medicine at Paris, he not only deposited by way of pledge
a considerable quantity of plate, but he was obliged to procure a
nobleman to join with him as surety in a deed, binding himself under a
great forfeiture to restore it. But when, in the eleventh century, the
art of making paper was invented, and more especially after the
manufacture became general, the number of MSS. increased, and the study
of the sciences was wonderfully facilitated. Indeed, the invention of
the art of making paper, and the invention of the art of printing, are
two very memorable events in the history of literature and of human
civilization. It is remarkable, that the former preceded the first
dawning of letters and improvement in knowledge, toward the close of the
eleventh century; and the latter ushered in the light which spread over
Europe at the æra of the reformation.
6. If the ancient books were large, they were formed of a number of
skins, of a number of pieces of linen and cotton cloth, or of papyrus,
or parchment, connected together. The leaves were rarely written over on
both sides, Ezek. ii, 9; Zech. v, 1. Books, when written upon very
flexible materials, were, as stated above, rolled round a stick; and, if
they were very long, round two, from the two extremities. The reader
unrolled the book to the place which he wanted, ἀναπτύζας τὸ βιλβλίον,
and rolled it up again, when he had read it, πτύζας τὸ βιβλίον, Luke iv,
17–20; whence the name מגלה, _a volume_, or thing rolled up, Psalm xl,
7; Isaiah xxxiv, 4; Ezek. ii, 9; 2 Kings xix, 14; Ezra vi, 2. The leaves
thus rolled round the stick, which has been mentioned, and bound with a
string, could be easily sealed, Isaiah xxix, 11; Dan. xii, 4; Rev. v, 1;
vi, 7. Those books, which were inscribed on tablets of wood, lead,
brass, or ivory, were connected together by rings at the back, through
which a rod was passed to carry them by. The orientals appear to have
taken pleasure in giving tropical or enigmatical titles to their books.
The titles, prefixed to the fifty-sixth, sixtieth, and eightieth psalms
appear to be of this description. And there can be no doubt, that
David’s elegy upon Saul and Jonathan, 2 Sam. i, 18, is called קשת or
_the bow_, in conformity with this peculiarity of taste.
The book, or flying roll, spoken of in Zech. v, 1, 2, twenty cubits long
and ten wide, was one of the ancient rolls, composed of many skins, or
parchments, glued or sewed together at the end. Though some of these
rolls or volumes were very long, yet none, probably, was ever made of
such a size as this. This contained the curses and calamities which
should befal the Jews. The extreme length and breadth of it shows the
excessive number and enormity of their sins, and the extent of their
punishment.
Isaiah, describing the effects of God’s wrath, says, “The heavens shall
be folded up like a book,” (scroll,) Isaiah xxxiv, 4. He alludes to the
way among the ancients, of rolling up books, when they purposed to close
them. A volume of several feet in length was suddenly rolled up into a
very small compass. Thus the heavens should shrink into themselves, and
disappear, as it were, from the eyes of God, when his wrath should be
kindled. These ways of speaking are figurative, and very energetic.
7. Book is sometimes used for letters, memoirs, an edict, or contract.
In short, the word _book_, in Hebrew, _sepher_, is much more extensive
than the Latin _liber_. The letters which Rabshakeh delivered from
Sennacherib to Hezekiah are called a book. The English translation,
indeed, reads _letter_; but the Septuagint has βιβλίον, and the Hebrew
text, הספרים. The contract, confirmed by Jeremiah for the purchase of a
field, is called by the same name, Jer. xxxii, 10; and also the edict of
Ahasuerus in favour of the Jews, Esther ix, 20, though our translators
have called it _letters_. The writing which a man gave to his wife when
he divorced her, was denominated, in Hebrew, “a book of divorce,” Deut.
xxiv.
BOOKS, _Writers of_. The ancients seldom wrote their treatises with
their own hand, but dictated them to their freedmen and slaves. These
were either ταχυγράφοι, _amanuenses_, _notarii_, “hasty writers,” or
καλλιγράφοι, _librarii_, “fair writers,” or βιβλιογράφοι, _librarii_,
“copyists.” The office of these last was to transcribe fairly that which
the former had written hastily and from dictation; they were those who
were obliged to write books and other documents which were intended to
be durable. The correctness of the copies was under the care of the
_emendator_, _corrector_, ὁ δοκιμάζων τὰ γεγραμμένα. A great part of the
books of the New Testament was dictated after this custom. St. Paul
noted it as a particular circumstance in the Epistle to the Galatians,
that he had written it with his own hand, Gal. vi, 11. But he affixed
the salutation with his own hand, 2 Thess. iii, 17; 1 Cor. xvi, 21; Col.
iv, 18. The amanuensis who wrote the Epistle to the Romans, has
mentioned himself near the conclusion, Rom. xvi, 22.
BOOKS, _modes of publication_. Works could only be multiplied by means
of transcripts. Whenever in this way they passed over to others, they
were beyond the control of the author, and published. The edition, or
publication, by means of the booksellers, was, only at a later period,
advantageous to the Christians. The _recitatio_ [reading aloud] preceded
the publication, which took place often merely among some few friends,
and often with great preparations before many persons, who were invited
for that purpose. From hence the author became known as the writer, and
the world became previously informed of all which they might expect from
the work. If the composition pleased them, he was requested to permit
its transcription; and thus the work left the hands of the author, and
belonged to the _publicum_: [public.] Frequently an individual sent his
literary labours to some illustrious man, as a present, _strena_, [a
new-year’s gift,] _munusculum_; [a small present;] or he prefixed his
name to it, for the sake of giving him a proof of friendship or regard,
by means of this express and particular direction of his work. When it
was only thus presented or sent to him, and he accepted it, he was
considered as the person bound to introduce it to the world, or as the
_patronus libri_, [patron of the book,] who had pledged himself, as the
_patronus personæ_ [patron of the person] to this duty. It now became
his office to provide for its publication by means of transcripts, to
facilitate its approach _ad limina potentiorum_ to the gates of men of
great influence, and to be its _defensor_.
Thus the works of the first founders of the Christian church made their
appearance before their community. Their Epistles were read in those
congregations to which they were directed; and whoever wished to possess
them either took a transcript of them, or caused one to be procured for
him. The historical works were made known by the authors in the
congregations of the Christians, _per recitationem_: [by reading aloud:]
the object and general interest in them procured for them readers and
transcribers. St. Luke dedicated his writings to an illustrious man of
the name of Theophilus.
BOOK OF LIFE, or BOOK OF THE LIVING, or BOOK OF THE LORD, Psalm lxix,
28. Some have thought it very probable that these descriptive phrases,
which are frequent in Scripture, are taken from the custom, observed
generally in the courts of princes, of keeping a list of persons who are
in their service, of the provinces which they govern, of the officers of
their armies, of the number of their troops, and sometimes even of the
names of their soldiers. Thus, when it is said that any one is written
in the book of life, it means that he particularly belongs to God, and
is enrolled among the number of his friends and servants: and to be
“blotted out of the book of life,” is to be erased from the list of
God’s friends and servants, as those who are guilty of treachery are
struck off the roll of officers belonging to a prince. The most
satisfactory explanation of these phrases is, however, that which refers
them to the genealogical lists of the Jews, or to the registers kept of
the living, from which the names of all the dead were blotted out.
BOOK OF JUDGMENT. Daniel, speaking of God’s judgment, says, “The
judgment was set, and the books were opened,” Dan. vii, 10. This is an
allusion to what was practised when a prince called his servants to
account. The accounts are produced and examined. It is possible he might
allude, also, to a custom of the Persians, among whom it was a constant
practice every day to write down the services rendered to the king, and
the rewards given to those who had performed them. Of this we see an
instance in the history of Ahasuerus and Mordecai, Esther iv, 12, 34.
When, therefore, the king sits in judgment, the books are opened: he
obliges all his servants to reckon with him; he punishes those who have
failed in their duty; he compels those to pay who are indebted to him;
and he rewards those who have done him services. A similar proceeding
will take place at the day of God’s final judgment.
SEALED BOOK, mentioned Isa. xxix, 11, and the book sealed with seven
seals, in the Revelation v, 1–3, are the prophecies of Isaiah and of
John, which were written in a book, or roll, after the manner of the
ancients, and were sealed, which figure truly signifies that they were
mysterious: they had respect to times remote, and to future events; so
that a complete knowledge of their meaning could not be obtained till
after what was foretold should happen, and the seals, as it were taken
off. In old times, letters, and other writings that were to be sealed,
were first wrapped round with thread or flax, and then wax and the seal
were applied to them. To read them, it was necessary to cut the thread
or flax, and to break the seals.
BOOTY, spoils taken in war, Num. xxxi, 27–32. According to the law of
Moses, the booty was to be divided equally between those who were in the
battle and those who were in the camp, whatever disparity there might be
in the number of each party. The law farther required that, out of that
part of the spoils which was assigned to the fighting men, the Lord’s
share should be separated; and for every five hundred men, oxen, asses,
sheep, &c, they were to take one for the high priest, as being the
Lord’s first fruits. And out of the other moiety, belonging to the
children of Israel, they were to give for every fifty men, oxen, asses,
sheep, &c, one to the Levites.
BOOZ, or BOAZ, the son of Salmon and Rahab, Ruth iv, 21, &c; Matt., i,
5. Rahab, we know, was a Canaanite of Jericho, Joshua ii, 1. Salmon, who
was of the tribe of Judah, married her, and she bore him Booz, one of
our Saviour’s ancestors according to the flesh. Some say there were
three of this name, the son, the grandson, and the great grandson, of
Salmon: the last Booz was Ruth’s husband, and the father of Obed.
2. BOOZ, or BOAZ, was the name of one of the two brazen pillars which
Solomon erected in the porch of the temple, the other column being
called Jachin. This last pillar was on the right hand of the entrance
into the temple, and Booz on the left, 1 Kings vii, 21. The word
signifies _strength_ or _firmness_. Mr. Hutchinson has an express
treatise upon these two columns, attempting to show that they
represented the true system of the universe, which he insists was given
by God to David, and by him to Solomon, and was wrought by Hiram upon
these pillars.
BOSOM. See ACCUBATION.
BOSSES, the thickest and strongest parts of a buckler, Job xv, 20.
BOTTLE. The eastern bottle is made of a goat or kid skin, stripped off
without opening the belly; the apertures made by cutting off the tail
and legs are sewed up, and, when filled, it is tied about the neck. The
Arabs and Persians never go a journey without a small leathern bottle of
water hanging by their side like a scrip. These skin bottles preserve
their water, milk, and other liquids, in a fresher state than any other
vessels they can use. The people of the east, indeed, put into them
every thing they mean to carry to a distance, whether dry or liquid, and
very rarely make use of boxes and pots, unless to preserve such things
as are liable to be broken. They enclose these leathern bottles in
woollen sacks, because their beasts of carriage often fall down under
their load, or cast it down on the sandy desert. These skin bottles were
not confined to the countries of Asia; the roving tribes, which passed
the Hellespont soon after the deluge, and settled in Greece and Italy,
probably introduced them into those countries. We learn from Homer, that
they were in common use among the Greeks at the siege of Troy; for, with
a view to an accommodation between the hostile armies, the heralds
carried through the city the things which were necessary to ratify the
compact, two lambs, and exhilarating wine, the fruit of the earth, in a
bottle of goat skin:
Ἄρνε δύω, καὶ οἶνον ἐΰφρονα, καρπὸν ἀρούρης,
Ἀσκῷ ὲν αἰγείῳ. _Il._ lib. iii, l. 246.
The bottle of wine which Samuel’s mother brought to Eli, 1 Sam. i, 24,
is called נבל, and was an earthen jug. Another word is used to signify
the vessel out of which Jael gave milk to Sisera: she opened a bottle of
milk, and gave him drink, Judges iv, 19. This is called נאוד, which
refers to something supple, moist, oozing, or, perhaps, imports
_moistened into pliancy_, as that skin must be which is kept constantly
filled with milk. This kind was usually made of goat skins. This word is
also used to denote the bottle in which Jesse sent wine by David to
Saul, 1 Sam. xvi, 20. It is likewise employed to express the bottle into
which the Psalmist desires his tears may be collected, Psalm lvi, 8; and
that to which he resembles himself, and which he calls a bottle in the
smoke, Psalm cxix, 83, that is, a skin bottle, blackened and shrivelled.
Beside the words already considered, another אבות, in the plural, is
used, Job xxxii, 19. This signifies, in general, to swell or distend. On
receiving the liquor poured into it, a skin bottle must be greatly
swelled and distended; and it must be swelled still farther by the
fermentation of the liquor within it, as that advances to ripeness. In
this state, if no vent be given to the liquor, it may overpower the
strength of the bottle, or it may penetrate by some secret crevice or
weaker part. Hence arises the propriety of putting new wine into new
bottles, which, being strong, may resist the expansion, the internal
pressure of their contents, and preserve the wine to due maturity; while
old bottles may, without danger, contain old wine, whose fermentation is
already past, Matt. ix, 17; Luke v, 38.
BOUDDHISTS, or BUDHISTS, one of the three great sects of India, distinct
both from the Brahminical sect, and the Jainas. The Bouddhists do not
believe in a First Cause: they consider matter as eternal; that every
portion of animated existence has in itself its own rise, tendency, and
destiny; that the condition of creatures on earth is regulated by works
of merit and demerit; that works of merit not only raise individuals to
happiness, but, as they prevail, exalt the world itself to prosperity;
while, on the other hand, when vice is predominant, the world
degenerates till the universe itself is dissolved. They suppose,
however, that there is always some superior deity, who has attained to
this elevation by religious merit; but they do not regard him as the
governor of the world. To the present grand period, comprehending all
the time included in a “kulpu,” they assign five deities, four of whom
have already appeared, including Goutumu, or Bouddhu, whose exaltation
continues five thousand years, two thousand three hundred and fifty-six
of which had expired, A. D. 1814. After the expiration of the five
thousand years, another saint will obtain the ascendancy, and be
deified. Six hundred millions of saints are said to be canonized with
each deity, though it is admitted that Bouddhu took only twenty-four
thousand devotees to heaven with him. The lowest state of existence is
in hell; the next is that in the forms of brutes: both these are states
of punishment. The next ascent is to that of man, which is probationary.
The next includes many degrees of honour and happiness up to demigods,
&c, which are states of reward for works of merit. The ascent to
superior deity is from the state of man. The Bouddhists are taught that
there are four superior heavens which are not destroyed at the end of
“kulpu;” that below these there are twelve other heavens, followed by
six inferior heavens; after which follows the earth; then the world of
snakes; and then thirty-two chief hells: to which are to be added, one
hundred and twenty hells of milder torments. The highest state of glory
is absorption. The person who is unchangeable in his resolution; who has
obtained the knowledge of things past, present, and to come, through one
“kulpu;” who can make himself invisible; go where he pleases; and who
has attained to complete abstraction; will enjoy absorption. Those who
perform works of merit are admitted to the heavens of the different
gods, or are made kings or great men on earth; and those who are wicked
are born in the forms of different animals, or consigned to different
hells. The happiness of these heavens is described as entirely sensual.
The Bouddhists believe that at the end of a “kulpu” the universe is
destroyed. To convey some idea of the extent of this period, the
illiterate Cingalese use this comparison: “If a man were to ascend a
mountain nine miles high, and to renew these journeys once in every
hundred years, till the mountain were worn down by his feet to an atom,
the time required to do this would be nothing to the fourth part of a
‘kulpu.’” Bouddhu, before his exaltation, taught his followers that,
after his death, the remains of his body, his doctrine, or an assembly
of his disciples, were to be held in equal reverence with himself. When
a Cingalese, therefore, approaches an image of Bouddhu, he says, “I take
refuge in Bouddhu; I take refuge in his doctrine; I take refuge in his
followers.” There are five commands given to the common Bouddhists; the
first forbids the destruction of animal life; the second forbids theft;
the third, adultery; the fourth, falsehood; the fifth, the use of
spirituous liquors. There are other commands for superior classes, or
devotees, which forbid dancing, songs, music, festivals, perfumes,
elegant dresses, elevated seats, &c. Among works of the highest merit,
one is the feeding of a hungry infirm tiger with a person’s own flesh.
BOURIGNONISTS, the followers of the celebrated Mad. Antoinette Bourignon
de la Ponte, a native of Flanders, born at Lisle, in 1616. She was so
much deformed at her birth, that it was even debated whether she should
not be stifled as a monster. As she grew up, however, this deformity
greatly decreased, and she discovered a superior mind, a strong
imagination, and very early indications of a devotional spirit, strongly
tinctured with mysticism. She conceived herself to be divinely called,
and set apart to revive the true spirit of Christianity that had been
extinguished by theological animosities and debates. In her confession
of faith, she professes her belief in the Scriptures, and in the
divinity and atonement of Christ. The leading principles which pervade
her productions are these: that man is perfectly free to resist or
receive divine grace; that God is ever unchangeable in love toward all
his creatures, and does not inflict any arbitrary punishment, but that
the evils they suffer are the natural consequences of sin; that true
religion consists not in any outward forms of worship, nor systems of
faith, but in immediate communion with the Deity, by internal feelings
and impulses, and by a perfect acquiescence in his will.
This lady was educated in the Roman Catholic religion; but she declaimed
equally against the corruptions of the church of Rome and those of the
Reformed churches: hence she was opposed and persecuted by both
Catholics and Protestants, and after being driven about from place to
place, she died at Franeker, in 1680. She maintained that there ought to
be a general toleration of all religions. Her notion on God’s
foreknowledge was, that God was capable of foreknowing all events, but,
his power being equal to his knowledge, he purposely withheld from
himself that knowledge in certain cases, that he might not interfere
with the free agency and responsibility of his creatures. Her works are
very numerous, making eighteen volumes in octavo: of which the principal
are, “The Light of the World;” “The Testimony of Truth;” and “The
Renovation of the Gospel Spirit;” which are much in esteem among the
admirers of mystical theology.
BOW. The expression, “to break the bow,” so frequent in Scripture,
signifies to destroy the power of a people, because the principal
offensive weapon of armies was anciently the bow. “A deceitful bow” is
one that, from some defect, either in bending or the string, carries the
arrow wide of the mark, however well aimed. See ARMS.