Fine Example of the Arias Montanus' Antiquitatum Iudicarum Libri IX
Nine treatises from from Polyglot Bible

Arias Montanus, Benito
Antiquitatum Iudicarum Libri IX. In quis, praeter Iudaeae, Hierosolymorum, & Templi Salomonis accuratam delineationem, praecipui sacri ac profani gentis ritus describuntur.

Leiden, Franciscus (I) Raphelengius, ex officina Plantiniana, 1593. 4to. Contemporary limp vellum, ink title on upper spine, ties missing. Printer's device of the Officina Plantiniata on the title page. 16 folding maps, plans and views, engraved in the early 1570s by Pieter Huys, Joannes Wierix, Pieter van der Heiden, and others, all but one numbered with MS letters in the lower margins of the plates. Two leaves, then 200 numbered pages, and the folding plates. Excellent impressions throughout. Some wear at some folds in plates, and some tearing where bound, but generally quite fine. World map is state 2 as is correct.

First and only edition of this rare volume comprising texts which had earned Arias Montanus the wrath of the Inquisition for what were considered "pro-Jewish" passages. The volumes' nine texts had appeared in Volume VIII of the Polyglot Bible, and by the publication of the present volume, the author had been exonerated of the charges.

Benito Arias Montano or Benedictus Arias Montanus (1527-1598), Spanish orientalist and editor of the Antwerp Polyglot, was born at Fregenal de la Sierra, in Extremadura, in 1527. After studying at the universities of Seville and Alcala, he took orders about the year 1559. He became a clerical member of the Military Order of St. James, and accompanied the Bishop of Segovia to the Council of Trent (1562) where he won great distinction.

On his return he retired to a hermitage at Aracena whence he was summoned by Philip II (1568) to supervise a new polyglot edition of the Bible, with the collaboration of many learned men. The work was issued from the Plantin press (1572, 8 volumes) under the title Biblia sacra hebraice chaldaice, graece et latine, Philippi II regis catholici pietate et studio ad sacrosanctae Ecclesiae usum, several volumes being devoted to a scholarly apparatus biblicus. Arias was responsible for a large part of the actual matter, besides the general superintendence, and in obedience to the command of the king took the work to Rome for the approbation of Pope Gregory XIII.

Len de Castro, professor of Oriental languages at Salamanca, to whose translation of the Vulgate Arias had opposed the original Hebrew text, denounced Arias to the Roman, and later to the Spanish Inquisition for having altered the Biblical text, making too liberal use of the rabbinical writings, in disregard of the decree of the Council of Trent concerning the authenticity of the Vulgate, and confirming the Jews in their beliefs by his Chaldaic paraphrases. After several journeys to Rome Arias was freed of the charges (1580) and returned to his hermitage, refusing the episcopal honours offered him by the king. He accepted, however, the post of a royal chaplain, but was only induced to leave his retirement for the purpose of superintending the Escorial library and of teaching Oriental languages.

He led the life of an ascetic, dividing his time between prayer and study. In addition to the works written in connection with the polyglot, the most celebrated of which is Antiquitatum judaicarum libri IX (Leyden, 1593), Arias left many commentaries on various books of the Bible; also: Humanae salutis monumenta (Antwerp, 1571); a Latin translation of the Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela, and other works on widely varying subjects. He was also celebrated as a poet, his verses being chiefly of a religious nature.

(- above synopsis of Arias Montanus from Encyclopdia Britannica Eleventh Edition, and the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913).

B "Terrae Israel omnisante Canaan dictae in tribus undecim distributae...	C Tabula Terrae Canaan Abrahae...
D Antiquae Ierusalem vera icnographia	E The Israelites in their camp This plate was the frontispiece of Vol. VIII of the Polyglot Bible
F Sacri in Tabernaculo Apparatus ...	G - Tabernaculi absoluti ac triplici velo tecti exemplum H - Sacri Tabernaculi orthographis exprospectu exteriori
J - Sacri Tabernaculi orthographia ex interiori prospectu K - Sacri Tabernaculi icnographia	L The Ark
M (left) - Sacrae Aedis sciographiae pars N (right) - Templi cum porticu et cellis absoluta orthographia ... [unlettered] (upper-right) Sacrae aedis icnographia	O Schematic of the Temple in Jerusalem
P Montis Domini totiusque Sacri Templi	Q. Hebrew priest