The Pictorial Bible is now completed ; the Third and
last Volume being before us. As a popular interpretation of the mean- ing of the Holy Scriptures—illustrating obscure passages by ex- planations of Oriental usages, and throwing light upon the habits and customs of the Jews—it is the most comprehensive of any one work of the kind in existence ; being compiled from all the authorities extant, and including the researches of the numerous recent travellers, as well as those of CALMET. The absence of all controversial discussion on doctrinal points renders it of universal acceptation; the notes being strictly explanatory. Of the many hundred wood-cuts that adorn its pages, those of mere embellish- ment—as the copies of historical paintings—are the least valuable,
though undoubtedly serviceable by exciting interest: the views of places mentioned in the text—the still more graphic illustrations taken from Egyptian paintings, antique sculptures, and the actual weapons, utensils, and costumes in use, together with the repre- sentations of animals and plants peculiar to the East—elucidate, in a way that no descriptions without delineations can do, those points which most stand in need of explanation to European readers.
Previous page
