John Belfour (1768–1842), was an
Englishorientalist and miscellaneous writer, of whom little is recorded, except that he was a member of the
Royal Society of Literature, and that he died in the
City Road,
London, in 1842, at the age of seventy-four.
Works
Literary Fables imitated from the Spanish of
Yriarte, London, 1806, 8vo.
"Music; a
didactic poem from the Spanish of Yriarte", London, 1811, 8vo.
Odes in honour of His Royal Highness
the Prince Regent; with other poems, 1812; only twenty-five copies printed.
"The
Psalms of David, according to the
Coptic version, accompanied by a literal translation into English, and by the version of the
Latin Vulgate, with copious notes, in which the variations from the original text are noticed, the corruptions in the Egyptian text pointed out, and its numerous affinities with the
Hebrew for the first time determined", 1831; manuscript in
British Museum, 1110 E. 31.
"Remarks on certain Alphabets in use among the Jews of Morocco", 1836. In the Transactions of the Royal Society of Literature of the United Kingdom, iii. 136-42, with plates.
Belfour also revised, corrected, and augmented the fifth edition of Ray's English Proverbs, London, 1813, 8vo.