William Aldis Wright (1831–1914) was a literary and biblical scholar who served first as Librarian, then Bursar, at Trinity College, Cambridge, and as secretary to the Old Testament Revision Company, published widely on Shakespeare, and was an expert in both Hebrew and sixteenth-century English. This fully updated second edition of a work begun by Jonathan Eastwood (1824–1864) was first published in 1884. It draws on Wright's extensive experience in both literary and biblical study and offers a clear and detailed glossary of hundreds of obsolete and archaic words commonly used in the Authorised Version of the Bible. By drawing comparison to word usage in contemporary texts such as those of Shakespeare, Francis Bacon and Thomas More, the likely meaning and usage of each word is explained in plain English. A guide for users of a version of the Bible which is itself a cornerstone of English literature.
