t, has hitherto not been given to the Vulgate. Not to
speak of the labours of Mill, Kennicott, and others, the Italian priest,
John Bernard De Rossi collated more than seven hundred MSS. of the
Hebrew text; and in his private library at Parma, 712 such codices were
brought together by his industry. Walton's Polyglot, the publications of
Tischendorf, and the collections made by Cardinal Mai, have contributed
much to establish with accuracy the text of the Septuagint. It remained
for Father Vercellone to undertake, in our day, a similar task in favour
of the Vulgate. His master, the learned Father Ungarelli, had already
commenced the work, and between 1830 and 1845, had amassed a
considerable amount of materials for a book on the _variae lectiones_ of
the Vulgate. In 1845, shortly before his death, he confided these
materials to his disciple, Father Vercellone, of whose erudition and
critical judgment he had had so many proofs. To the old riches his
master had brought forth from his storehouse, the scholar added new
treasures of his own; and the result of his labours upon and among both,
is to be found in the work under notice.

We shall now briefly state the method which the author has followed. As
the basis of his researches, he has taken the Clementine edition of
1592, purified from typographical errors, according to the other Vatican
editions of 1595 and 1598. The editors of the Clementine of 1592, did
but correct the text of the Sixtine edition of 1590. From the documents
belonging to the congregation appointed by Sixtus V. to edit the Vulgate
in that year, it appears that the editors took as the foundation of
their corrections the text of the folio edition published by the
Dominican Father, John Hunter, in 1583. But as the Hunterian edition of
1583 is identical with the Louvain folio edition published by Hunter in
1547, it follows that the Louvain text of 1547 may be considered as the
basis upon which all the subsequent Vatican corrections have been made.

To correct this text, Father Vercellone has directed his studies, and
in the volumes before us the fruit of his labours has been given to the
world. How arduous these labours have been, and what confidence we may
feel in his selection of readings, will best be learned from an
enumeration of the sources whence, with incredible pains, he has drawn
the information required for the execution of his design. These sources
may be classed under three heads: Vatican papers