Clarke, Samuel

, celebrated for his skill in oriental learning, was the son of Thomas Clarke, of Brackley in Northamptonshire, where it is supposed he was born, in 1623, and became a student at Merton college, Oxford, | in 1638. He resided in that university three years, and then left it, when the town was about to be garrisoned for the use of Charles I.: but after its surrender to the parliament, he returned to his college, submitted to the visitors appointed by the powers in being; and the same year, 1648, took the degree of M. A. The year following he was designed the tirst architypographus of the university, and for his better encouragement in that office, had the grant of the superior beadleship of the civil law, when it should become vacant, given to him, and to his successors in that place for ever; but Clarke, after all, was the last in whose person these offices were united. In 1650 he was master of a boarding-school at Islington, near London, during his continuance at which place he assisted in correcting and publishing Walton’s Polyglott Bible. In 1658 he returned a second time to the university; and, in contemplation of the death of him who held the superior beadleship of law, was elected architypographus May the 14th that year, and on the 29th superior beadle of the civil law; both which places he held to the time of his death, which happened at Holy well in the suburbs of Oxford, Dec. 27, 1669.

He was well versed in Greek and Latin, and had also uncommon skill in the oriental languages. His works are; 1. “Varise lectiones et observationes in Chaldaicam paraphrasim:” inserted in the sixth volume of the Polyglott Bible, beginning at page 17th. 2. “Scientia metrica & rhythmics; seu tractatus de prosodia Arabica ex authoribus probatissimis eruta,” Oxon. 1661, 8vo. And 3. “Septinium Bibliorum Polyglottftm volumen cum versionibus antiquissimis, non Chaidaica tantum, sed Syriacis, Æthiopicis, Copticis, Arabicis, Persicis contextum,” a ms. not yet printed. He also translated from the original ms. of the public library at Cambridge, “Paraphrastes Chaldosus in libr. Paralipomenon;” which Dr. Edmund Castell consulted, as he tells us in the preface to his “Lexicon Heptaglotton,” when he composed that elaborate work. Clarke also assisted in correcting the Hebrew text, Chaldee paraphrase, and the Persian gospels in the Polyglott Bible, which last he translated into Latin; and there goes’ also under his name a translation out of Hebrew into Latin of another piece, entitled “Massereth Beracoth. Titulus Talmudicus, in quo agitur de benedictionibus, precibus et gratiarum actionibus, adjecta versione Latina. In usum | studiosorum literarum Talmudicarum in aede Christi,” Oxon. 1667, 8vo. ¹