Bible, Polyglot [The London, or Walton, Polyglot]

6 volumes, folio (17 1/2 x 11 in.; 446 x 278 mm). Parallel Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Samaritan (Pentateuch), Ethiopic (Job to Malachi, NT), Persian (Gospels) and Arabic texts, with Aramaic (Chaldaean) Targums in vol. 4, general title-page printed in red and black, additional engraved historiated architechtonic title-page, 2 full-sheet engraved maps, and 4 engraved plates (some folding or double-page) by Wenceslas Hollar, a few woodcut illustrations in text, woodcut initials; browned throughout, occasionally severely, general title with some marginal tears, title to vol. 2 defective and restored at foot. Contemporary blind-tolled German pigskin with central clerical panels on the covers, slightly later maroon morocco spine labels; worn, soiled, vol. 1 rebacked.

Woodbrooke Library (ink stamp on front free endpapers) — Gustave E. Stechert (nineteenth-century bookseller's ticket, 766 Broadway, New York) Samuel M. Jackson (signature on portrait verso, New York, 1881) — J. Rendel Harris (bookplate) 

Darlow & Moule 1446; Wing B2797; ESTC R227828; Pennington, Hollar 1129, 1132–1135

6 volumes, folio (17 1/2 x 11 in.; 446 x 278 mm). Parallel Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Samaritan (Pentateuch), Ethiopic (Job to Malachi, NT), Persian (Gospels) and Arabic texts, with Aramaic (Chaldaean) Targums in vol. 4, general title-page printed in red and black, additional engraved historiated architechtonic title-page, 2 full-sheet engraved maps, and 4 engraved plates (some folding or double-page) by Wenceslas Hollar, a few woodcut illustrations in text, woodcut initials; browned throughout, occasionally severely, general title with some marginal tears, title to vol. 2 defective and restored at foot. Contemporary blind-tolled German pigskin with central clerical panels on the covers, slightly later maroon morocco spine labels; worn, soiled, vol. 1 rebacked.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
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The London, or Walton, polyglot bible, and a monument of English scholarship and typography—it is also the second book published by subscription in England. Edited by Brian Walton, who was consecrated Bishop of Chester in 1660, it contains certain texts in Ethiopic and Persian, making this the most complete of all the great polyglot editions.\

There are two forms of the preface: the earlier of the two acknowledges at some length the help given to the project by Oliver Cromwell, who allowed the paper for this edition to be imported free of duty; this is known as the "republican" preface. The second version, known as as the "loyal" preface, was written after the Restoration and downplays Cromwell's assistance. A few copies also contain a two-page dedication to Charles II. The present copy contains the second text of the preface, but does not contain the dedication leaf.

This copy is distinguished by having been in the library of J. Rendel Harris, the renowned Biblical scholar and curator of manuscripts at Johns Hopkins University (where he was also a professor of New Testament Greek) and  the John Rylands Library. He is today perhaps best remembered for his role in enabling twin sisters Agnes Smith Lewis and Margaret Dunlop Gibson to discover at the Saint Catherine's Monastery on Mount Sinai the Sinaitic Palimpsest, the oldest Syriac New Testament document in existence.