Bible. Old Testament. Psalms. Polyglot

Imperial 4to (330 x 225mm.), parallel text in Hebrew, Latin (three versions), Greek, Arabic, and Chaldean, title printed in red and black within an elaborate woodcut Islamic-style border, woodcut initials, first opening of text with headings printed in red, woodcut printer's device at end, original wooden boards with early nineteenth-century diced russia spine and paper pasted to boards, old flyleaves at beginning and end secured beneath nineteenth-century turn-ins, numeous manuscript annotations by Ryter (see provenance) in Latin with a few in Greek and Hebrew, front flyleaf detached, a few wormholes throughout, binding rubbed, upper joint splitting

Jacobus Ryterus of Basel, inscription dated 1574 beneath colophon and manuscript index rabbinorum and index locorum on front and rear flyleaves and annotations in red, brown and black ink, also with the date 1583 on X2 and Y5, and with a Latin poem about the book composed of words beginning with the letter P only (based on the printer's name); Liber [Joannis?] Cloppenburch, inscription on title-page, with date 1615 at foot of the title-page; Bought in Leiden by Cnaius Cornelius Uythage (a Dutch theologian, who also owned Postel's De Foenicum litteris (Paris 1552), Macclesfield sale, 2 October 2008, lot 4684) at the auction of Uchtmann on 18 March 1690, inscription at head of flyleaf, i.e. from the library of Alard Uchtmann, professor of Hebrew at Leiden University (died 1680)

Darlow & Moule 1411; Censimento 16 CNCE 5916; Sander 5957

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

A copy of the earliest polyglot publication of the Bible, showing considerable early study by a sixteenth-century Basel scholar who was fluent in both Hebrew and Greek.

The text was edited by the bishop of Nebbio (Corsica), Agostino Giustiniani (1470-1536), who had intended to publish the whole of the Bible in this way, though the appearance of the Complutensian Polyglot (see lot 15) halted his plans. The print run was a substantial two thousand copies on paper, with a further fifty printed on vellum. Giustiniani later became the first professor of Arabic and Hebrew in Paris; this publication includes an early note on the Genoese Christopher Columbus in the gloss to Psalm xix, 4.