Volume 1

The great historical, geographical, genealogical and poetical dictionary; being a curious miscellany of sacred and prophane history. Containing, in short, the lives and most remarkable actions of the patriarchs, judges, and kings of the Jews; of the apostles, fathers, and doctors of the church; of popes, cardinals, bishops, &c. ... Together with the establishment and progress both of religious and military orders, and the lives of their founders. As also, the fabulous history of the heathen gods and heroes. The description of empires, kingdoms, commonwealths, provinces, cities, towns, islands, mountains ... The whole being full of remarks and curious enquiries, for the illustration of several difficulties in theology, history, chronology and geography. Collected from the best historians, chronologers, and lexicographers ... but more especially out of Lewis Morery, D.D. his eighth edition corrected and enlarged by Monsieur Le Clerc; in two volumes in folio. To which are added, by way of supplement, inter-mix'd throughout the alphabet, the lives, most remarkable actions, and writings of several illustrious families of our English, Scotch and Irish nobility, and gentry, and most famous men of all professions, arts and sciences: as also, an exact description of these kingdoms; with the most considerable occurrences that have happened to this present time / [Louis Moréri].

Louis Moréri

Date:: 1701

Credit: The great historical, geographical, genealogical and poetical dictionary; being a curious miscellany of sacred and prophane history. Containing, in short, the lives and most remarkable actions of the patriarchs, judges, and kings of the Jews; of the apostles, fathers, and doctors of the church; of popes, cardinals, bishops, &c. ... Together with the establishment and progress both of religious and military orders, and the lives of their founders. As also, the fabulous history of the heathen gods and heroes. The description of empires, kingdoms, commonwealths, provinces, cities, towns, islands, mountains ... The whole being full of remarks and curious enquiries, for the illustration of several difficulties in theology, history, chronology and geography. Collected from the best historians, chronologers, and lexicographers ... but more especially out of Lewis Morery, D.D. his eighth edition corrected and enlarged by Monsieur Le Clerc; in two volumes in folio. To which are added, by way of supplement, inter-mix'd throughout the alphabet, the lives, most remarkable actions, and writings of several illustrious families of our English, Scotch and Irish nobility, and gentry, and most famous men of all professions, arts and sciences: as also, an exact description of these kingdoms; with the most considerable occurrences that have happened to this present time / [Louis Moréri]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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$THE PREFACE. EING now to give the Reader fome Account of the Hiftorical, <(9*cl Didionary of Monfieur Morery, / thinj^ it no more than a decent piece of Juftice to let the Gentleman fay fomething for him/elf. Tfyis Author, to recommend his Undertaking, [MoreryTreface~] gives us to underfland, 4 Performance 0/ this kind 7nuft be Very fer^ Vkeahle even to Terfons of Learning: That for this i(eaJon JeVeral 'Ancient Writers, before Ilidore and Suidas, haVe gone upon this Subjed, tho the Acci¬ dents of Time have deprived us of a great part of their Works. In the XVhhXentury Thomas Elliot, an Englifli Gentleman, and an intimate Acquaintance of Sir Thomas More, made a ColleSlionof all the Writers of Dictionaries, in a Treati/e of his intituld, Bi¬ bliotheca DiCtionaria .* Thus we are inform’d by Pits in his Famous Englifii Writers. !But it may he the InquiJitiVe Reader would gladly know what Fortune theje Wi^oncA Dictionaries haVe had in the World-, and who was the firfl in the XVIth. Century that gave himfelf the trouble to undertake them. Erafmus owns that he had jome Thoughts this way, for the Affiftance of thofe who began to read the Poets, but he never executed his Defign. An anonymous Author, and a Friend of Erafmus^, publijhed a !Book of this Na¬ ture in the Year 1534* This Work was printed at Bafil, but not much Valued, being little more than a Tranfcription of fome part of Ambrofius Calepinus. Some time after, Cibenius a German publijhed his Lexicon Hiftoricum & Poeticum. This Dictio¬ nary, which was Very well manag’d, was printed at Lyons in the Year \ 544. Afterwards Charles Stephens made a New One, in which, befide the Hiftorieal he added the Improvements of Geography. This Dictionary run through the ^refs feVeral times ', being enlarg’d upon every Edition. The Sieur Boyer li^ewtfe wrote one, containing the proper Names of Men, Countries, Towtis, Anhnals, Fbants, &c. of alt which, in fome places he gives a pretty large account, (Befides thefe aboVemention d, we have the Poetical Dictionary of Robert Stephens; that of Cities written by Stephanus of Byzantium, the Geographical Dictionary of Ortelius, and that of Verrmus augmented by B^Ludrmd: Not forgetting the Fhilofo-^ phical Diftionary of Goclenius, that of Chymiftry compos’d by Rutlandus, the Ma¬ thematical owe of Difapodius andYkalis, and fome Others for theFrofeffions of Tzw and Phyfick, ^c. Thefe Performances haVe upon Experiment prov’d Very Jignificantj and met with great Approbation from the lue2Lrned. , _ To proceed. The general P^gard paid to Authors of CharaBer, has occafion’d Cata¬ logues of them to be drawn up, to preferVe their Memory. Tl?is ProjeB has been wettpur- fud, by Writers of almofl all Ag^s and Countries, particularly, by St. Hierom^ Gennadi- us, Honorius, Auguftodunenfis. Ildefonfus, Ilidore, Sigebert of Gemblours, Hen¬ ry of Ghent, Trithemius, Sixtus Senenfis, Bellarmin, and feVeral others. There haVe alfo been Catalogues made of all the Greek and Latin Writers; Gefner of Zurich led the way, and perform’d to a conjiderable degree, in his Library of Authors carry d on to his own Time. This Work was fo well receiv’d, that Lycofthenes, Du Verdier de Vaupri- vas, and fome others purfud his Method, and expended to find their Account in coming out with Enlargements upon the fame SubjeCt. Simler furnilh'd out an Abridgment 5 and the LearfiedJefuitPoi^evitt fiands the fameCourfe with Gefner in his excellent Apparatus, The Sieur de la Croix du Maine had the fame View in his Bibliothe^ue, iphere he men- A Horis$

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