Comenius, Boyle, Oldenburg, and the Translation of the Bible into Turkish

In the period 1658-67 there were two separate projects to produce a Turkish translation of the Bible. The first, promoted by Comenius in Holland and funded by his patron de Geer, used the services of Levinus Warner in Constantinople; Warner commissioned translations from two dragomans in that city....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Church history and religious culture 2007-01, Vol.87 (3), p.327-362
Main Author: Malcolm, Noel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic libraries
Bible
BOBOVIUS
BOYLE
Christian history
COMENIUS
Ethnoreligious groups
Language translation
Libraries
New Testament
OLDENBURG
Printing
TURKISH BIBLE
Turkish literature
Written correspondence
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Summary:In the period 1658-67 there were two separate projects to produce a Turkish translation of the Bible. The first, promoted by Comenius in Holland and funded by his patron de Geer, used the services of Levinus Warner in Constantinople; Warner commissioned translations from two dragomans in that city. The second, promoted and partly funded by Robert Boyle, was undertaken by William Seaman in London. Attempts were made (through Henry Oldenburg) to coordinate the two projects, allotting the Old Testament to the former and the New to the latter; but there was little practical cooperation. Seaman's New Testament was published in 1666, but the Dutch-commissioned translation would remain in manuscript for more than 150 years. This article analyses the history of these twin projects and the difficulties that beset them — of which the greatest was the lack of sufficient linguistic expertise.
ISSN:1871-241X
1871-2428
1871-241X
DOI:10.1163/187124107X232453