Description

George Sale (1697-1736) was an Orentalist and practising solicitor best known for his 1734 translation of The Koran into English. He was also the author of The General Dictionary (10 volumes). Born in Canterbury, Kent, he was educated at the King's School, Canterbury, and in 1720 became a student of the Inner Temple. He trained as a solicitor in his early years but took time off from his legal pursuits, returning at need to his profession. He was an early member of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. In 1734 Sale published his translation of the Koran, providing numerous notes and a Preliminary Discourse. Whilst Voltaire bestowed high praise on the translation, it should be noted that Sale did not place Islam at an equal level with Christianity. Sale was also a corrector of the Arabic New Testament (1726) issued by the SPCK, and he acquired a library with valuable rare manuscripts of Persian, Turkish and Arabic origins now held in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. In addition, he assisted in the writing of the Universal History, published in London from 1747-68, contributing the chapter 'The Introduction, containing the Cosmogony, or Creation of the World.'