The original full title was "Critici Sacri, sive Doctissimorum Virorum in SS. Biblia Annotationes et Tractatus", and it appeared in nine volumes starting in 1660. The commentary project was launched by Cornelius Bee, with the main editor being John Pearson, supported by Anthony Scattergood and Francis Gouldman, as well as Pearson's brother Richard. Bee was a bookseller in Little Britain, London. He suffered major losses in the 1666 Great Fire.