Bible. New Testament. Modern Greek.

Estimate

800 - 1,000 GBP

bidding is closed

Description

H kainh diaqhkh... diglwttoV, en h antiproswpoV tote qeion prwtotupon kai h aparallaktwV ex ekeinou eiV aplhn dialekton, dia tou makaritou kuriou Maximou tou Kallioupolitou genomenh metafrasiV ama etupoqhsan. [Geneva: Pierre Aubert], 1638

2 volumes, 4to (246 x 173mm.), woodcut device on title-page, woodcut initials, head- and tailpieces, old vellum, spine lettering, light spotting, small tears with loss (not affecting text)

Provenance

Bequeathed to the Bishopric of Cornwall by the Rev. Franke Parker, M.A., Rector of Luffincott, Devon, 1883, bookplate; Truro Cathedral, bookplate

Literature

Darlow & Moule 4958; Cathedral Libraries Catalogue B1500; Legrand i, 360-388, no. 266

Catalogue Note

first edition of the new testament in modern greek. This edition, 1500 copies of which were printed, has the Biblical and Modern Greek versions, the latter by the monk Maximus of Gallipoli, presented in parallel columns. It was authorised by Cyril Lucaris, the Patriarch of Constantinople, who contributes a preface. Lucaris (born in Crete in 1572, and a pupil in Venice of Maximus Margounios) attempted to approximate the Orthodox Church to the Calvinist position. His stance earned him many enemies, both amongst his fellow orthodox and the Jesuits. Ultimately, when Sultan Murad was poised to set forth on the Persian wars, Lucaris was accused of trying to foment revolt, and was summarily executed by the Janissaries in June 1637, and his body cast into the sea. Cyril Lucaris presented Codex Alexandrinus (British Library, MS Royal 1. D. V-VIII) to Charles I in 1627.