Alexander Ross

DBId: 935

Entry author: Emmanuelle Stefanidis

Node type: Person

Related nodes

  • 2686 Pansebeia, or A view of all religions in the world ... . The second edition, enlarged and perfected ... , to wich are annexed the lives, actions and ends of certain notorious hereticks, with their effigies in copper plates
  • 937 The Alcoran of Mahomet translated out of Arabique into French by the Sieur Du Ryer, Lord of Malezair, and Resident for the King of France, at Alexandria. And Newly Englished, for the satisfaction of all that desire to look into the Turkish vanities.
  • 936 Pansebeia, or, A view of all religions in the world with the severall church-governments from the creation, to these times: also, a discovery of all known heresies in all ages and places, and choice observations and reflections throughout the whole
  • 935 Alexander Ross
    • Name

    Alexander Ross

    Original name

    Main activity

    Writer

    Secondary activity

    Chaplain

    Title

    Name variations

    "

    Education place

    Aberdeen

    Education institution

    Activity place

    Activity institution

    Activity start date

    Activity end date

    Place of birth

    Aberdeen

    Date of birth

    1591

    Place of death

    Bramshill

    Date of death

    1654

    Bibliographical references

    https://www.zotero.org/groups/2447618/euqu_european_quran/collections/AV8TFA2Z

    Descriptive card

    A prolific writer and controversialist, Alexander Ross has been commonly identified, included by George Sale in 1734, as the anonymous translator of Du Ryer's "L'Alcoran de Mahomet" (1647). "The Alcoran of Mahomet", printed in London in 1649, constituted the first rendition of the Qur'an into English. While the attribution of the translation to Alexander Ross has since been disputed (Feingold 2012 and 2016, Malcolm 2014), Ross did write one of its paratexts, namely a 14-page justification for the publication of the Alcoran entitled "A Needful Caveat or Admonition for them who desire to know what use may be made of, or if there be danger in reading the Alcoran". Despite the polemical tone of Ross's "Caveat", his true motivation for supporting the translation of the Qur'an into English remains unclear and has been the object of contradictory interpretations (see, for a useful summary, Clinton in Thomas & Chesworth 2016). Ross is also the author of a popular religious catalogue, "Pansebeia. Or a View of All the Religions in the World"(1653), in which he dedicated a large section to Islam.

    Entry author

    Emmanuelle Stefanidis