Castell, Edmund, a learned English divine, was born at Hatley, Cambridgeshire, 1606, and was educated at Immanuel and St. John's colleges, Cambridge. While at the University he compiled his Lexicon Heptaglotton, Dictionary of Seven Languages (Lond. 1669, 12 vols. fol.), after seventeen years' labor on it. The publication cost him £12,000, and ruined him. He had, however, previously been appointed king's chaplain (1666) and Arabic professor at Cambridge, to which were afterwards added a prebend of Canterbury and the livings of Hatfield Peverell and Wodeham Walter. He died in 1685 rector of Higham Gobion, Bedfordshire. His Lexicon is one of the greatest monuments of industry known in literature. He was aided in its preparation by Dr. Murray, bishop Beveridge, and Dr. Lightfoot. Besides his vast labors on the Lexicon, he was eminently useful to Walton in the preparation of his Polyglot Bible. Walton acknowledges his services, but not adequately. — New General Biograph. Dictionary, 3:194; Bibl. Repository, 10:11; Todd, Life of Walton, vol. 1, ch. 5; Horne, Introduction, 5:252 (9th ed.).
The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature was edited by John McClintock and James Strong. It contains nearly 50,000 articles pertaining to Biblical and other religious literature, people, creeds, etc. It is a fantastic research tool for broad Christian study.
John McClintock was born October 27, 1814 in Philadelphia to Irish immigrants, John and Martha McClintock. He began as a clerk in his father's store, and then became a bookkeeper in the Methodist Book Concern in New York. Here he converted to Methodism and considered joining the ministry. McClintock entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1832 and graduated with high honors three years later. Subsequently, he was awarded a doctorate of divinity degree from the same institution in 1848.WikipediaRead More