Part 5. American Edition of the Works of Josephus
Part 5 provides another example of increasing American independence following the War for Independence. In this example, a New York publisher, William Durell, produced an American version of a book that had been published in London: The Whole Genuine and Complete Works of Flavius Josephus, the Learned and Authentic Jewish Historian and Celebrated Warrior, translated into English by George Henry Maynard. The London edition appeared about 1789, and the American, in 1792, 1794, 1795, and 1799. Many other American editions of works of Josephus have been published during the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries.Of the 60 illustrations in each edition, 14 in the American edition were engraved by Cornelius Tiebout. In the carousel below, each of Tiebout's illustrations is preceded by the matching illustration from the London book. If you in-zoom the London images, you may be able to read some of the artists' and engravers' names. In the American images, the artists' names are omitted, but you can easily read Tiebout's signature. Five of Tiebout's engravings were revised for use in Jacob R. Berriman's 1796 American Bible; these five are listed in Part 4.
See the Wikipedia articles Josephus and Antiquities of the Jews.
See also Kristofer Stinson, "A New Jerusalem: Flavius Josephus in Early America", Church History (Cambridge University Press), vol. 91, September 2022, pp. 555-574. According to the Abstract for this article, "...Josephus's histories enabled Americans to hold together the tensions in their national identity and ancient imagination that envisioned the United States as both a new Rome and a New Jerusalem. As a foundation, Josephus breathed life and legitimacy into the developing American culture. By neglecting to account for Josephus in this era, scholars have overlooked one of the most pervasive stories that formed the character and understanding of American Protestantism." You can view the entire American book—724 pages—here: Complete Works of Josephus
As already noted, the carousel below shows not only Tiebout's engravings, but also their precedents. Note the left-to-right reversals of some of the images. The absence of artists' names in the American edition perhaps indicates the publisher's intent that his edition would be "more American" if the [English] artists' names were omitted. In any case, the original paintings, mostly lost or privately owned, are certainly notable. Possibly the list of artists, for all 60 illustrations, has not been previously published. Such a list, including names of the English engravers, is provided in the following table, courtesy of Jenny Ruthven, Special Collections Librarian, University of Southampton.
Illustration | Artist | Engraver | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Frontispiece: Josephus receiving the Antiquities and Wars | Metz | Grignion |
2 | Ten thousand Jews massacred | Metz | Grignion |
3 | The Egyptian midwives drowning the male children | Metz | Tookey |
4 | King Solomon building the Temple | Metz | Grignion |
5 | The daughter of Eleazar shewing her dead child to the soldiers | Corbould | Grignion |
6 | Manasseh, King of Judah, released | Metz | Tookey |
7 | Hagar in the wilderness | Metz | Heath |
8 | Tyro vindicating the innocence of Herod's sons | T. West | Tookey |
9 | Ceconcia, wife of Caius Caesar, the Roman emperor, lamenting | T. West | Grignion |
10 | King Herod rejecting the treacherous embraces of his son | T. West | Tookey |
11 | Josephus in a cave, after the destruction of Jotapata | Ramberg | Grainger |
12 | Delilah, after cutting off Samson's hair | Metz | Collier |
13 | The idolatry and apostacy of Jeroboam | C. Cooke | Grignion |
14 | Dagon, the idol falling before the ark of God | Stothard | Grignion |
15 | Daniel in the lion's den | Metz | Heath |
16 | Eleazar, by command of Antiochus, dragging to the torture | Weston | Grignion |
17 | Samson slaying the Philistines | C. M. Metz | Heath |
18 | The triumph of David, after the death of Goliath | Trepisiani | Tookey |
19 | Gideon's sacrifice consumed by fire | Metz | Heath |
20 | King Solomon's first sacrifice | Luykin | Grignion |
21 | Adad, King of Syria, stifled to death | Metz | Sharpe |
22 | The prophet Elias carried up to heaven | Stothard | Sparrow |
23 | The fugitive Shechemites burnt and suffocated | Metz | Blake |
24 | The feast of the Tabernacles | Luyking | Grignion |
25 | Josephus brought before the Emperor Vespasian | Ramberg | Tookey |
26 | The battle of Ain and the destruction of the city | Stothard | Blake |
27 | The Philistines depositing the armour of Saul | Metz | Grignion |
28 | Adam and Eve in paradise | Moreau | Scot |
29 | Judas Maccabaeus defeats the Samarian army | Metz | Grignion |
30 | The Philistines cutting off the heads of Saul and his three sons | Metz | Scot |
31 | Herod in search of treasure breaking the royal sepulchre | T. West | Grainger |
32 | The parting of Lot and Abraham | Metz | Blake |
33 | Antigonus, king of the Jews beheaded in Antioch | C. Cooke | Grignion |
34 | Destruction of the Temple of Baal | Metz | Parker |
35 | King David presenting Uriah with a letter to Joab | C. Graves | Noble |
36 | Achar confessing his sacrilegious theft | ||
37 | The Prophet Natan rebuking King David | T. West | Grignion |
38 | The combined forces of the Amalekites defeated | ||
39 | Seventy of Ahab's sons slain by order of Jehu | ||
40 | Death of Aristobulus, King of the Jews | T. West | Grignion |
41 | Manasseh, King of Judah, loaded with chains | T. West | Sharp |
42 | Queen Esther fainting before King | ||
43 | The apparition of Samuel raised by the witch of Endor | Salvator Rosa | Noble |
44 | Map of the countries surrounding the garden of Eden | T. Bowen | |
45 | Hilkiah and Shaphan presenting to King Josiah the book of law | Stothard | Grignion |
46 | King Artaxerxes presenting to Mordechai the ring | Sharpe | Warner |
47 | The assassination of Amnon by order of Absolem | Sharpe | Warner |
48 | The building of the tower of Babel | Sharpe | |
49 | Jerusalem taken and burned by Nebuchadnezzar | Luykin | Jas. Neagle |
50 | Herod reproached by Marianne for his cruelty | T. West | Page |
51 | Map of the Holy Land | (Thos. Bowen) | |
52 | Ahab, King of Israel, slain in chariot by an arrow | ||
53 | The men of Masada murdering their wives and children | Ramberg | Niegel |
54 | The six days work of the creation | ||
55 | Pharoah and his host of Egyptians drowned | Stothard | Morris |
56 | The falling of the walls of Jericho, burning the city | C. Metz | Smiths |
57 | Solomon's temple | ||
58 | Solomon's wise judgement | T. West | Warren |
59 | Zachariah stoned to death | Metz | Collyer |
60 | Triumph of Titus after the reduction of Jerusalem | T. West | Neagle |