to probe the circumstances surrounding the publication-and the presumed attempt at suppression-or to identify the individuals involved. Those who have analyzed the Alcoran of Mahomet have tended to take for granted that the prolific and long-winded Alexander Ross-who signed the "needfull Caveat" appended to the translation-was responsible for the entire production, even in the face of evidence to the contrary. This misattribution has led in turn to some untenable conclusions regarding the motives behind the publication-that the royalist Ross used the translation as a club with which to strike out at the loathsome "heretics" in Whitehall-and the environment within which Arabic studies in mid-seventeenth century England took shape. 2 The purpose of the present essay is to shed new light on the publication of the "Turkish Alcoran" and the identity of its editor; to engage critically with a rival interpretation concerning the identity of the compiler; and to comment briefly on its relation to similar projects to edit (or translate) the Koran that were contemplated by contemporary Arabists. The Alcoran of Mahomet was a translation of André Du Ryer's L'Alcoran de Mahomet translaté d'arabe en françois, published in Paris in early 1647 under a cloud. Writing to Claude Saumaise on May 31, Jacques Dupuy noted the recent ("depuis peu") publication of the book, further intimating that although the translation had been granted the appropriate privilege, the "Council of Conscience"-spearheaded by Vincent de Paul-sought to "smother its birth." Nevertheless, Dupuy observed, the Alcoran "is sold under the counter and this only serves to put up its price. " 3 Copies of Du Ryer's translation seem to have been circulating by late March or early April: Henry Oxenden lent his copy of the "Turkish Alcoran" to "Mr Colbie of Patreksbourne" on April 4, 1647 (O.S.) for a period of six weeks. 4 The potential for commercial success that in part had motivated Du Ryer-a motive evident also in the unauthorized publication in 1649 of rival editions of Du Ryer's translation by Johannes Janssonius and Lodewijk III Elzevier in Amsterdam-was soon to be recognized in England as well. By June 1648 the millenarian Moses Wall informed Samuel Hartlib that a "friend" of his had completed the English translation. However, the friend had proceeded no further, as he waited for "a Historie of Mahomet's life and his Religion" promised to him. Six months later, on December 29, 1648, the completed manuscript was entered on the books of the Stationers Company. 5 The identity of the translator and/or editor, Thomas Ross, was revealed during the investigation that followed the printer's arrest. The surname has prompted speculation that Thomas was simply a misprint for Alexander. But in his "needfull Caveat, " Alexander refers explicitly to the translator as being a person other than himself. 476 mordechai feingold 2. Nabil Matar, "Alexander Ross and the First English Translation of the Qur'an, " The Muslim