Wyclif, John

4to (193 x 143mm.), title within woodcut border, nineteenth-century English diced russia with roll-tooled border, title-page laid down, A4 repaired at head, quire N foxed, paper flaw in Bb3, occasional light damp-staining, boards detached, spine defective

The Law Society, armorial bookplate

Mendham W186; Shaaber 86; VD16 W4688

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."

The religious opinions of John Wyclif (died 1384) had considerable influence on the Continent, particularly on Jan Hus and his followers in Bohemia. This volume contains his Trialogus, which essentially summarises his thinking in four short books, and was most likely written in the last few years of his life. It was condemned in England in 1410.

This is the earliest printing of any work of the prolific Wyclif, responsibility for which most likely rests with Luther or one of his circle; the printer, Peter Schoeffer the younger of Mainz, also produced the first edition of Tyndale's English New Testament in 1526, and Tyndale himself was resident in Worms in 1525-1526. For another contemporary German volume containing some writings of Wyclif's, see Gratuinus's Fasciculus rerum of 1535, lot 36.