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Estimate: $ 3,000 - $ 5,000
(BIBLE. POLYGLOT.) Biblia sacra polyglotta. Edited by Brian Walton. Engraved frontispiece portrait of Walton and pictorial additional title in Volume 1, which also contains a double-page map of the Holy Land, double-page plan of Jerusalem, 3 double-page plates (2 showing plans and elevations of the Temple, one depicting ritual artifacts), and single-page plan of the Temple, all by Wenceslaus Hollar. [14], 53, [7], 38, [2], 102 [i. e., 106], [2], 865, [1]; 889, [1], 29, [1]; 447, [1], 389, [1], 227, [1], 149, [1]; 87, [1], [4], 128, 23, [1], 20, 159, [1], 390; 983, [1]; [2], 72, 56, 98 [i. e., 68], 80, 196, 140, 24, 58, 36, 36, 96, [2] pages. 6 volumes. Folio, 447x279 mm, contemporary panelled calf gilt with some modern leather lettering pieces, worn, hinges reinforced, Volume 1 and 6 joints and Volume 3 spine reinforced with cloth tape, Volume 1 covers detached with front endleaves and portrait adhered to front cover, Volume 5 front cover detached, joints on other volumes cracked or starting; generally an attractive set internally with occasional soiling and toning or browning, scattered minor rust stains, roughly 3/4-inch hole in the third leaf of Genesis restored with missing letters or words supplied in manuscript, 2 small holes in first leaf of Joshua affecting a couple of words, and minor worming in blank margins at beginning and end of Volume 5. Contemporary signature and purchase inscription of Edmund Matthews of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge; signatures and notes of Thomas Baker (1656-1740), nonjuring Anglican clergyman, antiquary, and ultimately ejected fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge; 19th-century armorial bookplates of Sir James Graham, Bart. London: Thomas Roycroft, 1655-57
The fourth, last, and most accurate of the large-scale Polyglots of the 16th and 17th centuries, the London Polyglot was a tour-de-force of typography and layout employing Greek, Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic, Samaritan, and Ethiopic fonts to print versions in 8 languages in addition to the Vulgate, surpassing the number included in the Alcalà, Antwerp, and Paris editions. It was also the most ambitious and successful subscription publishing venture in England to date. Thomas Baker's annotations on the front endleaves in Volume 1 include a full transcription of the 1653 broadside subscription proposal (Propositions concerning the Printing of the Bible in the Original & Other Learned Languages), though he gives the date as 1652. This set contains the "Loyal" preface omitting mention of Oliver Cromwell's role in the duty-free importation of paper for this edition; the earlier "Republican" version had acknowledged Cromwell's help at length. Darlow & Moule 1446.
with: CASTELL, EDMUND. Lexicon Heptaglotton. Engraved portrait of Castell in Volume 1. [4] leaves, 44 columns, [1] leaf, 573 columns, [1] page, 1656 columns; 1657-4008 columns; lacks the portrait of castell. 2 volumes. Folio, 448x284 mm, contemporary panelled calf gilt with modern leather lettering pieces, not uniform with the set above, joints cracked, cords intact, spine ends and cover corners worn, hinges reinforced; title and first page in second volume soiled, contents otherwise relatively clean. London: Thomas Roycroft, 1669. first edition; issue with only Roycroft named in the imprint. Wing C1225.
