In search of sources that dealt with Islam in the 16th and 17thc I came across Samuel Chew's The Crescent and the Rose. Chew's book is best likened to a catalog where he manages to list a great number of works written prior to and during Early Modern England that dealt primarily with Islam. Of the thousands of sources that Chew listed one was of particular interest to me, namely the first English translation of the Koran in 1649. With the help of my major professor and the staff in the microform room at Parks Library, I was able to obtain a copy of The 1649 Alcoran of Mahomet, and decided to explore Early Modern English Understanding of Islam through it.