The Life and Epistles of St. Paul

Thomas Lewin was an eminent English barrister, author, and investigative New Testament historian whose meticulous research earned him election as a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries (F.S.A.) of London. Educated at Trinity College, Oxford, Lewin initially achieved immense professional renown in the legal world for writing a definitive, multi-volume treatise on the law of trusts that went on to become a standard institutional textbook for over a century. However, his personal passion lay in historical and biblical chronology. Blending his sharp legal mind for cross-examining evidence with a deep love for classical antiquity, Lewin spent decades traveling, surveying geographical landscapes, and studying primary source texts to map out the precise timelines of early Christian history, Roman military campaigns, and biblical archaeology. 

First published in two volumes in 1851, this monumental work stands as a landmark achievement in Victorian biblical scholarship. Lewin skillfully coordinates the biographical narrative from the Book of Acts alongside a deeply rigorous chronological arrangement of the Pauline epistles. Rather than presenting a dry theological commentary, Lewin treats Paul’s travels as a sprawling historical detective story, mapping the Apostle's missionary journeys against the broader, turbulent socio-political realities of the 1st-century Roman Empire. Later heavily expanded in the 1870s by George Bell and Sons to include hundreds of exquisite engraved vignettes, steel plates, and colored maps, this work remains highly collected.

Very attractive deep purple leather with ornate spines. Gilt details in each compartment and red leather label on second and fourth compartment. Crest to upper cover. Award pastedown to interior cover dated 1878 on Volume 1 and ownership pastedown on interior cover of volume 2. Marbled endpapers. Some minor scuffing to the boards. Illustrated throughout. Fine condition.