Salesbury, William

William Salesbury, Salesbury also spelled Salisbury, (born c. 1520, Cae Du, Llansannan, Denbighshire [now in Conwy], Wales—died c. 1584, Llanrwst, Denbighshire [now in Conwy]), Welsh lexicographer and translator who is noted particularly for his Welsh-English dictionary and for translating the New Testament into Welsh.

Salesbury spent most of his life at Llanrwst following antiquarian, botanical, and literary pursuits. About 1546 he edited a collection of Welsh proverbs, Oll Synnwyr Pen Kembero Ygyd (“The Whole Sense of a Welshman’s Head”), possibly the first book printed in Welsh. His Dictionary in Englyshe and Welshe (1547), the first work of its kind, appeared in a facsimile edition in 1877. His translation of the New Testament (1567), based on the Greek version, was prepared in collaboration with Richard Davies, bishop of St. David’s, Abergwili, Carmarthenshire.