[Purvey, John]

8vo (5 3/8 x 3 7/8 in.; 138 x 96 mm). Title within a composite woodcut border of 9 small strips with putti and animals, woodcut initials (some historiated); title-page lightly dampstained, title and following leaf with small wormhole, I7 with paper flaw costing 2 or 3 letters. Nineteenth-century half calf over marbled boards, plain endpapers, blue-speckled edges; extremities quite rubbed. 

James Whatman (armorial bookplate). acquisition: Bernard Quaritch, 2002

VD16 B5252; Benzing, Luther 2477; Bodleian/Wycliff & His Followers 57. Not in Adams

8vo (5 3/8 x 3 7/8 in.; 138 x 96 mm). Title within a composite woodcut border of 9 small strips with putti and animals, woodcut initials (some historiated); title-page lightly dampstained, title and following leaf with small wormhole, I7 with paper flaw costing 2 or 3 letters. Nineteenth-century half calf over marbled boards, plain endpapers, blue-speckled edges; extremities quite rubbed.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

First edition of a rare commentary on the Book of Revelation, or Apocalypse, written by an English disciple of John Wycliffte, edited by Georg Rörer and with an introduction by Martin Luther. Purvey's commentary was evidently written in the early 1390s when he was imprisoned for heresy and is based on lectures of Wycliffte that he had attended as a seminarian at Oxford. It is the only writing of Purvey published prior to the nineteenth century.