SOURCE: An excerpt from "Hieronymus (4) (Jerome), St." in A Dictionary of Christian Biography, Literature, Sects and Doctrines; during the First Eight Centuries, Being a Continuation of "The Dictionary of the Bible," Vol. III, edited by William Smith and Henry Wace, John Murray, 1882, pp. 48-50.

In the following excerpt, Fremantle critically appraises Jerome as translator, expositor, theologian, church and general historian, and letter writer.

… 1. As a translator, Jerome deserves the highest place for his clear conviction of the importance of his task, and the perseverance against great obstacles which he displayed. This is shewn especially in his prefaces, which are of great value as shewing his system. For the most part he took very great pains, but not with all alike. The Chronicles, for instance, he went over word by word with his Hebrew teacher; Tobit he translated in a single day. His method was, first, never to swerve...