“The Turkish Alcoran”: New Light on the 1649 English Translation of the Koran

Abstract

to probe the circumstances surrounding the publication-and the presumed attempt at suppression-or to identify the individuals involved. Those who have analyzed the Alcoran of Mahomet have tended to take for granted that the prolific and long-winded Alexander Ross-who signed the "needfull Caveat" appended to the translation-was responsible for the entire production, even in the face of evidence to the contrary. This misattribution has led in turn to some untenable conclusions regarding the motives behind the publication-that the royalist Ross used the translation as a club with which to strike out at the loathsome "heretics" in Whitehall-and the environment within which Arabic studies in mid-seventeenth century England took shape. 2 The purpose of the present essay is to shed new light on the publication of the "Turkish Alcoran" and the identity of its editor; to engage critically with a rival interpretation concerning the identity of the compiler; and to comment briefly on its relation to similar projects to edit (or translate) the Koran that were contemplated by contemporary Arabists. The Alcoran of Mahomet was a translation of André Du Ryer's L'Alcoran de Mahomet translaté d'arabe en françois, published in Paris in early 1647 under a cloud. Writing to Claude Saumaise on May 31, Jacques Dupuy noted the recent ("depuis peu") publication of the book, further intimating that although the translation had been granted the appropriate privilege, the "Council of Conscience"-spearheaded by Vincent de Paul-sought to "smother its birth." Nevertheless, Dupuy observed, the Alcoran "is sold under the counter and this only serves to put up its price. " 3 Copies of Du Ryer's translation seem to have been circulating by late March or early April: Henry Oxenden lent his copy of the "Turkish Alcoran" to "Mr Colbie of Patreksbourne" on April 4, 1647 (O.S.) for a period of six weeks. 4 The potential for commercial success that in part had motivated Du Ryer-a motive evident also in the unauthorized publication in 1649 of rival editions of Du Ryer's translation by Johannes Janssonius and Lodewijk III Elzevier in Amsterdam-was soon to be recognized in England as well. By June 1648 the millenarian Moses Wall informed Samuel Hartlib that a "friend" of his had completed the English translation. However, the friend had proceeded no further, as he waited for "a Historie of Mahomet's life and his Religion" promised to him. Six months later, on December 29, 1648, the completed manuscript was entered on the books of the Stationers Company. 5 The identity of the translator and/or editor, Thomas Ross, was revealed during the investigation that followed the printer's arrest. The surname has prompted speculation that Thomas was simply a misprint for Alexander. But in his "needfull Caveat, " Alexander refers explicitly to the translator as being a person other than himself. 476 mordechai feingold 2. Nabil Matar, "Alexander Ross and the First English Translation of the Qur'an, " The Muslim

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“…Nabil Matar explains that The Alcoran of Mahomet , “with its bigotry and inaccuracy, was the only primary source on Islam available for the reading public in the second half of the seventeenth century and in the early part of the eighteenth century” (Matar, 1998, 91). Mordechai Feingold shows that the 1649 edition of The Alcoran was “seen as a handy political weapon rather than a genuine threat to Christian religion” (Feingold, 2012, 480). Even though there is no consensus among modern scholars about the identity of the English translator of The Alcoran of Mahomet , the English‐translated version encouraged the incorporation of The Alcoran in English politics in the late seventeenth‐ and early eighteenth‐century debates of royal succession, Protestantism vs. Catholicism, and subjects' loyalty vs. disloyalty (Malcolm, 2012, 266) 5 .…”

“…Malcolm clarifies that George Sale (1697–1736), who also translated the Qur'an in 1734, was the first to associate Alexander Ross with the 1649 translation of The Alocran (p. 270). Feingold rejects both Alexander Ross and Hugh Ross as possible translators of The Alcoran of Mahomet , arguing that Thomas Ross was very probably the translator (Feingold, 2012, 476, 485). In his co‐authored book with Gerald MacLean, Matar revises his suggestion of Alexander Ross as the English translator of The Alcoran of Mahomet , which “has long been thought to be the work of Alexander Ross” (MacLean & Matar, 2011, 36).…”