Historic Scholarship

Notes:

• A brief and useful discussion of the history of Syriac studies in Europe can be found here.
• The story behind the editio princeps of the Syriac NT can be found here.
• Nestle’s bibliography is the quickest and easiest guide to early Syriac printed material.
• A list of Syriac grammars and lexica contained in the New York Public Library can be found here.
• A history of the printing of the Syriac NT is here. (''The Printed Editions of the Syriac New Testament'', Church Quarterly Review 57 (1888): 257–294.)
• A list of editions of the Syriac NT is here.

Early-Modern Publications on Syriac (in chronological order)

G. Postel, Linguarum duodecim characteribus differentium alphabetum: introductio, ac legendi modus longè facilimus: linguarum nomina sequens proximè pagella offeret (Paris, 1538). (Also here.)

T. Ambrogio Albonesi, Introductio in chaldaicam lingua, syriaca, atque armenica... (Rome, 1539).

A. Caninius, Institutiones linguae syriacae, assyriacae atque thalmudicae, una cum aethiopicae atque arabicae collatione (Paris, 1554).

J.A. Widmanstadt, Syriacae linguae...prima elementa (Vienna, 1556).

J. Mercerus, Tabulae in grammaticen linguae Chaldaeae, quae & Syriaca dicitur: multa interim de rabbinico & Talmudico stilo traduntur: accessit ad calcem libellus De abbreuiaturis Hebraeorum, quibus & in Masora, & Talmudicis at que alijs scriptis passim utuntur (Paris, 1560). (also here and here)

J.A. Widmanstadt and Moses Mardinensis, Liber sacrosancti evangelii de Iesv Christo domino & Deo nostro. Reliqua hoc codice comprehensa pagina proxima indicabit. Div. Ferdinandi rom. imperatoris designati iussu & liberalitate, characteribus & lingua syra, Iesv Christo vernacula, diuino ipsius ore cõsecrata, et a Ioh. Euãgelista hebraica dicta, scriptorio prelo diligẽter expressa … (Vienna, 1562).

E. Tremellius, Grammatica chaldaea et syra (Geneva, 1569).

J.A. Widmanstadt, Syriacae linguae prima elementa (Antwerp, 1572).

Volume 5 of the Antwerp/Plantin Polyglot (1572), containing the Syriac NT

G.F. Boderiano, Dictionarium syro-chaldaicum (Antwerp, 1572).

From Volume 6 of the Antwerp/Plantin Polyglot (1572)

A. Masius, Syrorum peculium, hoc est vocabula apud syros scripto (Antwerp, 1572).

A. Masius, Grammatica linguae syriacae (Antwerp, 1573).

G. Amira, Grammatica syriaca, sive chaldaica (Rome, 1596).

Faustus Naironus, Sacrosancta Jesu Christi Evangelia jussu sacraecongregationis de propaganda fide ad usum ecclesiae nationis Maronitarum edita... (Rome, 1703).

Arabic-Syriac NT. Karshuni is Arabic written in the Syriac script. This volume contains an early discussion of the origins of Karshuni.

C.M. Agrell, Otiola Syriaca. (Lund, 1816).

C.M. Agrell, Supplementa Syntaxeos Syriacae (Griefswald, 1834).

C.M. Agrell, Suppplementa ad Lexicon Syriacum Castellianum (Upsala, 1839).

Photographs of Famous Syriac Scholars

Anton Baumstark (1872–1948)

Anton Baumstark (1872–1948)

Carl Brockelmann (1868–1956)

Ignazio Guidi (1844–1935)

Eduard Sachau (1845–1930)

Theodor Nöldeke (1836–1930)

Theodor Nöldeke (1836–1930)

Jan Pieter Nicolaas Land (1834–1897)

William Wright (1830–1889)

Paul Anton de Lagarde (1827—1891)

J.S. Assemani (1687–1768)

J.S. Assemani before Pope Clement XI (from M. Mercati, Metallotheca, 1717, on Google Books)