Adam Clarke


Life
?1762-1832; b. Moybeg, parish of Kilcronaghan, Co. Londonderry; passed childhood at Maghera and Garvagh, and later Agherton, nr. Coleraine; unsettled family life and domineering father, an episcopalian school-teacher; proved a slow learner to the disappointment of his father, the principal of the school, but blossomed through the use of a prodigious memory, the encouragement of a younger master and the insults of his fellows; his father, simultaneously working as a farmer, unsuccessfully applied the Georgics of Vergil to his Ulster farm (lat. 55 N.); survived near-drowning in adolescence; considered himself led into idleness by a love of dancing, later concurring with Cicero (Nemo sobrius saltat); sought out the occult philosophy of Cornelius Agrippa among ‘gipsies’ [an episode cited by W. B. Yeats];
 
influenced by Ray on God’s wisdom in Creation, and by Derham on Astro-Theology; first heard Methodism from one John Brettall, at Burnside and later from Thomas Barber whose doctrine Clarke’s mother declared ’the doctrine of the Reformers [...] true and unadulterated Christianity’; experienced a religious crisis and a revelation of the doctrine of justification through Jesus [atonement] while working in a field; subsequent vision of Jesus during religious ‘love-feast’ in Coleraine; joined Methodist Society, at Mullihical [Mullaghacall], nr. Coleraine, 1778 - site of the Adam Clarke Cottage; embarked on life of scripture reader and home missionary;
 
worked for a kinsman, Bennett, in a linen establishment in Coleraine; suffered ill-health; joined Mr. Bredin on the Methodist circuit, taking sustenance from John xv, 16 (‘Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you ...’); first preached at New Buildings nr. Derry, 19 June 1782; travelled to England with Bredin, departing by boat from Derry to Liverpool, and thence by land to Bristol, 17 Aug. 1782; received parents blessing in his mission though leaving them unsupported; escaped press-gang on his outward journey; converted the ship’s captain, Cunningham, to Methodism, on arrival in Liverpool (Etherage, p.61);
 
 
met the Wesleys, John and Charles, then arriving in Bristol, on 6 Sept. 1782; sent on circuit as preacher in Wiltshire, Somerset and Dorset; worked as a riding preacher in Norfolk in 1783, and in Cornwall in 1784; [...] advised to take a licence for reasons of legal security as a preacher, but resisted as not being a true dissenter but a moderate Church of England man; suffered dangerous injury in a fall from a horse formerly belonging to Wesley, nr. Port Isaac; formed a dislike of congretational singing in worship; preached on the Norman Isles (Jersey, &c.);
 
[...] published Baxter’s Christian Directory, Shuckford’s Connections of Sacred and Profane History, and trans. Fleury’s History of the Ancient Israelites; issued The Holy Bible, with a Commentary and Critical Notes, 8 vols. (1826),a magnum opus; also issued Memoirs of the Wesley Family (1823); compiled a Bibliographical Dictionary of Greek and Latin works (1803-04); donated his Origen and other works to Cambridge University Library; remembered for the opinion that Eve was tempted by a baboon;
 
he is comemorated as a celebrated Biblical commentator in a plaque on the portal of the Methodist Church, Portrush, Co. [London]derry, and by in a modern street-name in Portstewart. CAB

[ top ]

Works
  • A Letter to a Methodist Preacher, on his entrance into the work of the ministry: containing advices [...&c.] (1800), and Do. [2nd rev. & enl. edn.] (Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans 1842), xi. 416pp.; 8° [see details].
  • A Bibliographical Dictionary Containing a Chronological Account, alphabetically arranged, of the most curious, scarce, useful, and important books, in all departments of literature, which have been published in Latin, Greek, Coptic, Hebrew, Samaritan, Syriac, Chaldee, Aethiopic, Arabic, Persian, Armenian, &c. ... including the whole of the fourth edition of Dr. Harwood’s view of the classics, with innumerable additions and amendments. To which are added, An essay on bibliography, 6 vols. (London: W. Baynes, 1802-04; 1806).
  • A Bibliographical Miscellany; or, Supplement to The bibliographical dictionary, &c. (London 1806), 2 vols., 12°.
  • Miscellaneous works of Adam Clarke  (London 1836-1837), 13 vols., 12mo.
[ top ]

Bibliographical Details
A Letter to a Methodist Preacher, on his entrance into the work of the ministry: containing advices on the following subjects: 1. The spirit in which he should perform his work; 2. Choice of texts; 3. Behaviour in the pulpit; 4. Behaviour in his circuit; 5. Behaviour in the house where he lodges; 6. The cultivation of his mind; 7. Marriage, - and the management of children; 8. The preservation of his health: With a postscript, in which the general character of the preachers, and the nature and importance of the work in which they are engaged, are briefly considered with an Appendix, containing a few directions to the people, how they may profit most by hearing the word of God preached (1800), and Do. [2nd rev. & enl. edn.] (Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans 1842), xi. 416pp. ; 8o.

[ top ]

Criticism
  • J. B. B. Clarke, An Account of the Infancy, Religious & Literary Life of the Rev Adam Clarke, LL.D., F.A.S. (MRIA) [1st edn.] (1833) [port. in Vol. 3 of 3].
  • J[ohn] W[esley] Etheridge, The life of the Rev. Adam Clarke (NY: Carlton & Porter 1858) [available at Internet Archive [online - see extracts; there is a pdf copy at Media Alkitab - online].

There is a biographical notice in James Wills, The Irish Nation, Its History & Its Biography, 4 vols. (London 1871), pp.438 [online - accessed 15.11.2009]; also a port. plate of Clarke by S. Freeman, included with those of of other portraits being Thomas Moore and James Ussher prefixed to the volume dedicated to ‘Ecclesiatical - Modern’ and containing lives of Rev. Walter Blake Kirwan, Thomas Percy (Bishop of Dromore), Matthew Young (Bishop of Clonfert), Arthur O’Leary, &c.

Note: I once saw a framed engraving of a portrait of Adams [approx. 2" sq.] at the Beaufield Mews Antique Shop in Mount Merrion, Co. Dublin, but was unable to buy it - in retrospect a sorry missed opportunity, especially in view of the proximity of Adam’s church at Portrush, with its memorials, to the home of RICORSO. [BS]

[ top ]

Commentary
The Irish Funeral Cry (the Ullaloo, Keeners and Keening at Irish Funerals)”, from Dublin Penny Journal, 1, 31 (26 Jan. 1833 ): ‘[...] Till about the middle of the last century, the custom was very generally adhered to in Ireland, as well in families of the highest condition, as among those of the lower orders; and many of the elegiac poems, composed on such occasions, have come down to us, which by their figurative language, and highly poetical imagery, evince astonishing genius, and are strongly indicative of the natural talent of our people. The learned Dr. Adam Clarke has preserved one of considerable beauty, the music of which, he tells us, though rude and simple, is nevertheless, bold, highly impassioned, and deeply affecting, and is often used among the decendants of the aboriginal Irish, on funeral occasions. We however prefer giving the following “lament of Morian Shehone for Miss Mary Bourke,” which is literally translated from the original Irish.’ (Available at LibraryIreland.com [online].)

J[ohn] W[esley] Etheridge, The Life of the Rev. Adam Clarke (NY: Carlton & Porter 1859) - Introduction to the American edition): ‘No name in the history of Methodism, after John Wesley’s, is more widely and honorably known that that of Adam Clarke. His “Commentary on the Bible” has been more generally circulated, both in the British Isles and in America, within the last thirty years, than any other exposition of the sacred writings.’ (p.3.) ‘A copious life of Dr. Clarke, by his son, including a curious and characteristic autobiography, appeared in London in 1834 [sic] (3 vols., 8vo.), and was afterwards published in this country. But it never supplied the wants of the general public as a life of Dr. Clarke. Too bulky for general and cheap circulation, and too minute and prolix for easy reading, it affords a repository of facts [3] for the biographer, rather than a biography itself. The want of a portable volume, portraying the man as he was, for the people, has long been felt. / Dr. Etherage has supplied this want [...] He evinces that first requirement of a biographer, a true and hearty sympathy with the subject of his work [...].’ (pp.3-4; unsigned author.) [Available at Internet Archive online; accessed 25.10.2010.] Preface by Etherage expresses obligation to Mrs Richard Smith, dg. and first biographer of Clarke. ‘Introductory’ begins: ‘The most ancient book in the possession of mankind, the Genesis of Moses, has enregistered for all time a series of biographical memoirs.’ States the 32 articles of Adam’s credo, pp.72-77. (p.9; see Internet Archive online; accessed 25.10.2010.)

J[ohn] W[esley] Etheridge, The Life of the Rev. Adam Clarke (NY: Carlton & Porter 1859): ‘It was on that evening, June 19,1782, that he [Adam] preached his first sermon. The text was the passage that had made the impression on his mind in the field, I John v, 19: “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness;” from which he extemporized a discourse on the following topics 1. That the world lies in wickedness; proved by appeals to the state of man’s nature, and the actual condition of human society. 2. That it is only by the power of God that men are saved from this state of corruption; those who are converted being converted by him: “We are of God.” 3. Those who are converted know it; not only from its outward effects in their lives, but from the change made in their hearts. We know that we are of God.” (p.55.)

W. B.Yeats: ‘Dr Adam Clarke tells in his unfinished autobiography how, when he was at school in Antrim towards the end of the eigtheenth century, a schoolfellow told him of Cornelius Agrippa’s book on Magic and that it had to be chained or it would fly away of itself. Presently he heard of a farmer who had a copy and after that made friends with a wandering tinker who had another. Lady Gregory and I spoke of a friend’s visions to an old countryman. He said “he must belong to a society”; and the people often attribute magical powers to orangemen and to Freemasons ...’ (W. B. Yeats, “Witches and Wizards and Irish Folk-lore”, in Lady Gregory, Visions and Beliefs in the West of Ireland [Coole Edition], Colin Smythe 1970. p.302; also rep. in Robert Welch, ed., W. B. Yeats - Writings on Irish Folklore, Legend and Myth, London: Penguin 1993, pp.364-73, p.364.)

[ top ]

Reference
COPAC lists Miscellaneous works of Adam Clarke  (London 1836-1837), 13 vols., 12mo., and other titles as follows [Headings added here]:
Bibliography & philology
  • A Bbibliographical Dictionary; containing a chronological account, alphabetically arranged, of the most curious, scarce, useful, a and important books, in all departments of literature, which have been published in Latin, Greek, Coptic, Hebrew, Samaritan, Syriac, Chaldee, Aethiopic, Arabic, Persian, Armenian, &c. ... including the whole of the fourth edition of Dr. Harwood’s view of the classics, with innumerable additions and amendments. To which are added, An essay on bibliography (London: W. Baynes, 1802-04; 1806),  6 vols.
  • A Bibliographical Miscellany; or, Supplement to The bibliographical dictionary, &c. (London 1806), 2 vols.,  12mo.
Historical (incl. biography, &c.)
  • The Nature, Design, Rules and Regulations of a Charitable Institution Termed the Stranger’s Friend: begun in Dublin, in 1791, and afterwards established in Manchester, Liverpool, and other places, humbly recommended to the consideration of all those who earnestly wish to ameliorate the condition of the poor (1798).
  • A Dissertation on the Use and Sbuse of Tobacco. Wherein the advantages and disadvantages attending the consumption of that entertaining weed are particularly considered. Humbly addressed to all the tobacco-consumers in Great-Britain and Ireland, but especially to those among religious people (1797, 1814, &c.).
  • A Narrative of the Last Illness and Death of Richard Porson, Professor of Greek in the University of Cambridge (University of Cambridge  1808).
  • A Short Account of the Introduction of the Gospel into the British Isles: and the obligation of Britons to make known its salvation to every region of the earth; in an address delivered in the chapel, City Road, London, on Thursday evening, December 1, 1814, at the formation of a missionary society among the people called Methodists, in that city  (London: printed for T. Blanshard 1815), 35pp.
  • The Female Pilgrim; or, The travels of Hephzibah ... Illustrated with copper plates ... To which is added, a Supplement to The female pilgrim, or The Travels of Evangelistus, &c. [by] John Mitchell, Allegorist  (1814).
  • Memoirs of the Wesley Family collected principally from original documents (London: Printed by J. & T. Clarke 1823), xv, 543pp. ill., fold. facsim., ports.
Scriptural commentary
  • The Holy Bible: containing the Old and New Testaments, according to the Authorized translation; with all the parallel text and marginal readings. To which are added, notes and practical observations, designed as a help to a correct understanding of the sacred writings [...] Introduced by by A. Clarke (1810, 1813, 1825, 1836 & 1837), and Do. condensed from the original work, with occasional notes added by Robert Newton Young  (1874, 1881).
  • Foedera: conventiones, litteræ, et cujuscunque generis acta publica, inter reges Angliæ et alios quosuis imperatores, reges, pontifices, principes, vel communitates, ab ingressu Gulielmi I. in Angliam, A.D. 1066, ad nostra usque tempora habita aut tractata: ex autographis, infra secretiores archivorum regiorum thesaurarias, asservatis, aliisque summæ vetustatis instrumentis, ad historiam anglicanam spectantibus, fideliter exscripta / primum in lucem missa ... cura et studio Thomæ Rymer et Roberti Sanderson ; denuò aucta, et multis locis emendata ... accurantibus Adamo Clarke et Fred. Holbrooke (1830).
  • The New Testament: of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ: containing the text taken from the most correct copies of the present authorised translation, including marginal reaing and parallel texts, with commentary and critical notes: designed as a help to a better understanding of the sacred writings (London: printed for J. Butterworth & Son 1817), 3  vols.
  • Clavis Biblica, or, A Compendium of Scriptural knowledge: containing a general view of the contents of the Old and New Testaments: the principles of Christianity derived from them and the reasons on which they are founded: with directions how to read most profitably the Holy Bible: Originally drawn up for the instruction of two Teerunanxies or High Priests of Budhoo from the Island of Ceylon by Adam Clarke  (London: Printed by J. and T. Clarke, for Joseph Butterworth and Son, and sold by Thomas Blanshard 1820), vii, [1], 67, [1]pp.
  • Principles of the Christian Religion: extracted from the Clavis Biblica of the Rev.  A. Clarke  (London: John Mason [1830?] ), 16pp., 12°.
  • A Concise View of the Succession of Sacred Literature ... from the invention of alphabetical characters, to the year of our Lord 1300, 2 vols (1830).
  • The Bethany Parallel Commentary on the Old Testament: from the condensed editions of Adam Clarke, Matthew Henry, Robert  Jamieson - three classic commentaries in one volume (1985).
Theological works
  • Observations on the Text of the Three Divine Witnesses, accompanied with a plate containing two ... facsimiles of 1 John, chap.  v., ver. 7, 8 & 9, as they stand in the first edition of the New Testament ... and in the Codex Montfortii ... in the Library of Trinity-College, Dublin [extracted from A Concise View of the Succession of Sacred Literature]  (Manchester: R. & W. Dean 1805), 16pp. 12°. [also in Early American imprints, 2nd. ser., No. 34859, 1990].
  • The doctrine of salvation by faith proved: or, An answer to the important question: What must I do to be saved? (London: printed for the author, sold by T. Blanshard ... and J. Butterworth & Son ... 1816), [4], 59 [1]pp.
  • The Christian prophet and his work: a discourse on 1 Corinthians XI, ver. 3 [2nd edn.] (London: Printed by G. Story, sold by G. Whitfield & J. Butterworth 1800), 30pp.
  • A letter to a methodist preacher, on his entrance into the work of the ministry: containing advices on the following subjects: 1. The spirit in which he should perform his work; 2. Choice of texts; 3. Behaviour in the pulpit; 4. Behaviour in his circuit; 5. Behaviour in the house where he lodges; 6. The cultivation of his mind; 7. Marriage, - and the management of children; 8. The preservation of his health: With a postscript, in which the general character of the preachers, and the nature and importance of the work in which they are engaged, are briefly considered with an Appendix, containing a few directions to the people, how they may profit most by hearing the word of God preached (1800), and Do. [2nd rev. & enl. edn.]  (Longman, Brown, Green & Longmans 1842), xi. 416pp., 8°.;
  • Richard  Baxter, The Christian directory; or, Sure guide to present and eternal happiness [...] Abridged from the original by Adam Clarke (Liverpool: printed by J. Nuttall 1802), viii, 584pp., 8°.
  • The Love of God to a lost world demonstrated by the incarnation and death of Christ: a discourse on John iii. 16 (1818).
  • [signed “Philoxenas”,] An Account of the baptism of two Budhist Priests by A. Clarke (1820); The rights of God and Cæsar. Discourse on Matt. XXII. 15-21 (1821) 31pp.
  • God’s Mercy in giving a revelation of his will to man and his providence in preserving that revelation from corruption and decay: manifested in a discourse on Romans, Chap. XV, ver. 4: delivered in Lerwick, Zetland, July 2, 1826 (1827).
  •  The Traveller’s Prayer: a discourse on the third collect for grace, in the morning service of the Liturgy of the Church of England [4th edn.] (1834).
  • Christian Theology  by Adam Clarke, selected from his published and unpublished writings and systematically arranged, with a life of the author by Samuel Dunn (1835).
  • The Gospels Harmonized: with notes ... chiefly by Adam Clarke ... Arranged ... and divided into sections ... By Samuel Dunn [With a portrait]  (1836).
Translations
  • Reflection on the Works of God in Nature and Providence, for every day in the year ... Translated from the French, and collated with the German [of Christoph Christian Sturm] (1801).
  • The manners of the ancient Israelites; containing an account of their peculiar customs, ceremonies, laws, polity, religion, sects, arts and trades, division of time, wars, captivities, &c. &c. in three parts / Written originally in French by Claude Fleury ... with a short account of the ancient and modern Samaritans. The whole much enlarged from the principal writers on Jewish antiquities , [A Short History of the ancient Israelites; with an account of their manners, customs, laws, polity, religion, sects, arts, and trades, division of time, wars, captivities, &c. A work of the greatest utility to all those who read the Bible, and desire fully to understand the various customs, manners, &c. referred to in that sacred book. Written originally in French by the Abbé [Claude] Fleury [1640-1723], much enlarged from the Apparatus Biblicus of Père Lamy, and corrected and improved throughout by A. Clarke, et al. (Liverpool: Printed by J. Nuttall, for W. Baynes, No.54, Pater Noster Row, London 1802), 272, [12]pp.; 21 cm.; Do. [other edn.] (1805, 1809 & 1820), and Do. (Burlington, Vermont: Stephen C. Ustick 1813), 300pp., port., 17 cm.
Miscellaneous
  • Mary Cooper (1786-1812 [obiit. 1812 aetat. 26]), Memoirs ... Extracted from her diary and ... correspondence by Adam Clarke, LLD (6th. edn. 1828).
  • Margaret M.  Clough, Extracts from the journal and correspondence [...] with an introduction by Adam Clarke  (London: printed for J. Mason, 1829), ill.
  • Christian Perfection, being an extract from ... Mr. Fletcher’s polemical essay [i.e. “The last check to antinomianism”:] containing his definition of perfection, and his addresses to imperfect and perfect believers: To which is subjoined a short sketch of the character of Mr. Fletcher / by ... J. Wesley, and a defence of the doctrine of Christian perfection, by ... A. Clarke (1833).
  • The Pilgrim’s Progress ... With a memoir of the author [reissue of the John Bennett, London, edn. of ?1831] (William Bennett: London and Plymouth [1840]), viii, 484, 25-120, 582-626pp., ill. [15 lvs. of pls. (port.)];
  • James Creighton, A Dictionary of the Scripture Proper Names: wherein the words are accentuated ... To which are prefixed remarks respecting the pronunciation, etymology, and accentuation of the English language [with a prefatory letter by A. Clarke] (q.d.).
Answering texts
  • A Defence of a Critique on the Hebrew Word ‘Nachash’, in answer to some observations made in ... the Classical, Biblical, and Oriental Journal, by Dr. A. Clarke, in which it is proved from the Hebrew Text, ... that a Serpent, not an Ape, deceived Eve  (London 1811), 8°.
  • A Vindication of Dr. Adam Clarke, in answer to Mr. Moore’s Thoughts on the Eternal Sonship of the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, addressed to the People called Methodists, &c.  (Bristol [1817]), 8o.
  • The Doctrine of the Eternal Sonship of Christ, considered ...; including also, a respectful answer to all the objections and arguments which have been urged by ... Dr. A. Clarke against such a filiation / [by] Robert Martin [Independent Minister] (1821).
Biographies of Clarke
  • Monument to the Memory of the late Adam Clarke [Address of the Committee appointed to raise subscriptions]  ([London] [1833]), 4pp., 8o.
  • Memoirs of the life, ministry, and writings of the Rev. Adam Clarke, LL.D. / William Jones, M.A. [Baptist Minister] (1834).
  • An Account of the Infancy, Religious and Literary Life of Adam Clarke ... Written by one who was intimately acquainted with him from his boyhood to the sixtieth year of his age, Vols. 2, 3. By a Member of his Family [i.e. Mary Ann Smith]). Edited by the Rev. J. B. B. Clarke (London: T. S. Clarke 1833), 3 vols. [of which Vol. 1 is autobiographical].
  • The life and labours of Adam Clarke ... to which is added an historical sketch of the controversy concerning the sonship of Christ, particularly as connected with the proceedings of the Wesleyan-Methodist conference (London: John Stephens 1834).
  • William Bennett Baker, Poetic Vigils; containing a monody on the death of Adam Clarke LL.D. ... and other poems (1833);
  • The religious society of Wesleyans and the marriages bill (London: G. Hill, Steam Printer, Westminster Bridge Road 1869), 4pp. [with views of Dr. Jabez Bunting and Dr. Clarke concerning the propriety of legalizing marriage with a deceased wife’s sister].
WORKS in Translation:
  • John Jones [called Idrisyn], trans. [into Welsh], Yr Esboniad berniadol, neu ddeongliadau ... ar yr Hen Destament a’r Newydd; yn cynwys gwahanol olygiadau uwchlaw 200 o brif ferniaid y byd, ar dduwinyddiaeth, brudiaeth, a hanesiaeth yr Ysgrythyrau Santaidd, yn chwanegol at sylwadau diwygiedig y Parch. Adam Clarke ... Wedi ei gyfieithu a’i olygu yn ofalus gan John Jones, Llanidloes [With the text] Adam Clarke, LL.D.  (1845).
CATALOGUES (&c.):
  • Catalogue of the valuable and extensive library ... of the late Adam Clarke ... which will be sold by auction, by Mr. Evans, at his house ... on Monday, February 18, and nine following days [...] (T. S. Clarke [printer] 1833).
  • A historical and descriptive catalogue of the European and Asiatic manuscripts in the library of the late Dr. Adam Clarke, F.S.A., M.R.I.A., etc / illustrated by facsimiles of curious illuminations, drawings, &c. By J.B.B. Clarke (1835); Ioannis Hus [Jan Hus], et Hieronymi Pragensis confessorum Christi historia et monumenta ...: cum scriptis & testimonijs multorum ... qui ... tractationum omnium in Synodo Constantiensi conscij, & crudelium ac indignissimorum suppliciorum spectatores fuerunt (Noriberbae [i.e. Nuremburg]: in officina Ioannis Montani 1558), 2 tom. [incls. manuscript note by Adam Clarke in Manchester Library].
  • A List of Manuscripts, English, Irish, French, Icelandic, Latin, Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic, Persian, Armenian, Singalese, Pali, and Sanscreet ... formerly in the possession of the late Dr. Adam Clarke; on sale at the affixed prices, by Baynes and Son (Leeds: Spink [1836]), 20pp., 8o.
  • The Papers of Dr. Adam Clarke  (Manchester: John Rylands University Library [catalogued in] 1991), 87pp., 31cm.
Note also ...
  • Origen, Hexaplorum Origenis qua supersunt: multis partibus auctiora quam a Flaminio Nobilio & Joanne Drusio edita fuerint. Ex manuscriptis & ex libris editis eruit & notis illustravit D. Bernardus de Montfaucon ...Accedunt opuscula quadam Origenis anecdota, & ad calcem lexicon Hebraicum ex veterum interpretationibus concinnatum, itemque lexicon Græcum & alia, qua pramissus initio laterculus indicabit  (Parisiis: apud Ludovicum Guerin ... viduam Joannis Boudot ... et Carolum Robustel ... 1713), 2 vols. ; 39 cm. [ donated to Cambridge Library, Adam Clarke].
ADDENDUM: See also Joseph Butterworth Bulmer Clarke, M.A. [son of Adam Clarke], An account of the church education among the poor in the diocese of Bath and Wells, in the year 1846 / [by] Clarke (1847).

[ top ]

Notes
Portrait: An enamelled portrait was on sale Beaufield Mews, Autumn 1993, with a printed note describing Clarke as a British theologian, b. Derry, 3 times President of Methodist Conference; wrote Bibliographical Dictionary, 1803-04 [being] a Chronological Account of the more important Books in Latin, Greek and Hebrew; he maintained that Eve was tempted by a baboon.

Seamus Ó Casaidhe, A Book of Irish and Scottish Gaelic Verse [Bibl. Soc. of Ireland, Vol. III No. 6 (1928), records that one Thomas Jones auctioned Vallancey’s library in Feb. 1813, Lot 1281 [in extant catalogue] being Dictionarium trilingue [sic] sive Dictionarium Anglo Latino Hibernicum, sive Lingua hibernica rediviva, 1747, or an English, Latin and Irish Dictionary, author’s title; bought for a Dr. Adam Clarke and removed to England, it was found in Evans’s bookshop by Hardiman in 1829, having been sent for sale from France; now preserved in RIA in three large vols. as 24q 19-21. (See further under Ó Casaidhe, supra.)

[ top ]