Bucharest Bible (include Pseudo-Josephus)

The Bucharest Bible (Romanian: Biblia de la București), also known as the Cantacuzino Bible, was the first complete translation of the Bible into the Romanian language, having previously experienced parts (scrolls) without a unified codex, thus published in Bucharest in 1688. It was ordered and patronized by Șerban Cantacuzino, then-ruler of Wallachia, and overseen by logothete Constantin Brâncoveanu. The Old Testament was translated by Moldavian-born scholar Nicolae Milescu in Constantinople, utilizing a 1597 Frankfurt edition of the (LXX) Septuagint as the source. For a fuller detail check out the webiste below. Excerpt: The Bible of Șerban Cantacuzino...is the first complete translation of the Scripture into the Romanian language. It is one of the most renowned and complex editorial projects that took place during the 17th century in the Danubian principalities. It is a monumental and collective work...It comprises 932 pages to which 5 unnumbered ones were added for the prefaces of some biblical books, along with an epilogue. It is printed in Cyrilic script with black and red ink, and with the biblical texts displayed on two columns.

The red ink was reserved only for parts of the title page - i.e., words Biblia, Dumnezeiasca Scriptură “the divine Scripture,” and toate “all” (to highlight that it is a complete translation of the Bible); the names of Lords Șerban Cantacuzino and Constantin Brâncoveanu, alongside that of Theodosie Veștemeanu, Metropolitan of Wallachia - and the titles of the Book of Genesis and the Gospel of Matthew, most probably, to mark the beginnings of the Old and New Testaments, alongside the decorated initial letters of their first chapters. All the other texts, ornaments, and lettrines are printed in black ink.

The ornaments are simple: a floral framing for the title page, and small ornaments placed at the beginnings and the end of the biblical books. The only elaborate decorations are those placed at the beginning of the Book of Genesis and the Gospel of Matthew...After Șerban’s letter, the editors included a laudative letter to Constantine Brâncoveanu by the Patriarch of Jerusalem Dositheos II (1641–1707), in which he praises the lord’s support for the Church. It follows a table of contents that divides the biblical books into three categories: the Old Testament, Apocryphal books, and the New Testament. For a more academic link see https://www.academia.edu/123569415/Chapter_and_Verse_Division_in_the_Romanian_Bibles_Influences_Changes_Questions