Ebook The Land and the Book

A new generation of readers and students of the Sacred Scriptures has arisen, and the interest in Biblical studies has been greatly increased and extended. Any work designed to meet the wants of those who now daily search the Script ures should abound in illustrations, both textual and picto rial, which are accurate and reliable in detail, and the infor mation imparted must be brought down to the present day. No effort has been spared which was found necessary to reach such a result. The pictorial illustrations are entirely new, prepared specially for this work from photographs taken by the author, and from the best existing materials, and they have been drawn and engraved, under his superintend ence, by artists in London, Paris, and New York. The thanks of the author are due to his publishers for the liberal manner in which this most costly part of the work has been executed. Great attention has been bestowed upon the spelling of proper names, and all who have any knowledge of the sub ject will appreciate its importance. It is extremely perplex ing to ordinary readers to meet with a dozen different ways of spelling the name of the same person, place, or thing. To avoid this confusion it is absolutely necessary to have some well-defined system, and the one adopted for this work is that of Dr. Edward Robinson. This system, drawn up by Dr. Robinson, and his fellow-traveller, Dr. Eli Smith, was submitted to the general meeting of the Syrian Mission. After careful examination, in which the author participated, it was adopted by the mission; and it has gradually grown in public favor — has been accepted by the Palestine Explo ration Fund of England, by the American Exploration Soci ety, by recent writers, and in guide-books to the Holy Land. In addition to the names which occur in our English Bible, the present Arabic names of places are added in all impor tant cases — a feature, in this work, of much importance. This volume of the Land and Book is supplied with two carefully prepared indexes — one of texts, and the other of names and subjects — and the attention of the reader is di rected to them, as they will facilitate reference to those parts of the work where the Scripture passages illustrated, and the subjects treated of, are to be found.