KENNICOTT, English clergy man and scholar: b. Totness in Devonshire, 4 April 1718; d. Oxford, 18 Sept. 1783, When his father died he was quite young but suc ceeded him as master of a charity school in his home village. Through the kindness of friends he entered Wadham College, Oxford. In his undergraduate days he published two books, the second one 'On the Oblations of Cain and Abel" (2d ed., 1747) won for him his degree before the statute time had expired. Soon he was elected Fellow of Exeter College. His.fame as a scholar rests on a great under taking which he began in 1753. It was no less a task than the collation of all the Hebrew manuscripts to be found in the libraries of Eng land and on the Continent so that a more cor rect Hebrew text of the Old Testament might be ascertained. Several persons were employed collating manuscripts for him. Professor Bruns of the University of Helmstadt collated manu scripts in Germany, Switzerland and Italy. Af ter 16 years of the most intense labor, the first volume of his Hebrew Bible appeared. The second appeared four years later. The variations of the text included collations from Hebrew and Samaritan manuscripts, the Greek testament and from the former editions of the printed text. Dr. Kennicott was librarian of
Radcliffe Library from 1767 until his death, he was also canon of Christ Church at the same time. His works include, in addition to pam phlets and sermons, 'The State of the Printed Hebrew Text of the Old Testament' (2 vols., 1753, 1759) ; 'Critici Sacri: or Short Introduc tion to Hebrew Criticism> (1774); 'Ten Annual Accounts of the Collation of Hebrew Manu scripts of the Old Testament, 1760-69> (1770); 'Vetus Testamentum Hebraicum Cum van is Lectionibus> (2 vols., 1776, 1780) ; 'Dissertatio Generalis in Vetus Testatuentum Hebraicum' (1780) ; 'Epistola ad celeberrimum professorem Joannem Davidem Michaelis, de censure primi tomi Bibliorum Hebraicum Nuper editi' (1777); 'Editionis Veteris Testaments Hebraici cum variis lectionibus brevis defensiof contra Ephemeridum, Goettingensitun Criminationes' (1782) ; 'Remarks on Selected Passages in the Old Testament, to which are added eight Ser mons' (1787).