LATE 18th, EARLY 19th C. HANDWRITTEN MANUSCRIPT TRANSLATION AND COMMENTARY OF THE GOSPELS IN GREEK BY THE RECTOR OF MARLEBONE AND PREBENDARY OF CANTERBURY

On offer, two volumes in one book, being a printed version of the Gospels in Greek, bound in between blank pages wherein handwritten manuscript commentary and translation in English, by James Hume Spry, whose inscribed name appears on the free front endpapers. Research provides that the author was The Reverend John Hume Spry, Doctor of Divinity, Rector of Marlebone and Prebendary of Canterbury who died at his Residence 13 Devonshire Place in 1842. [There was a cousin James who was a Doctor of Medicine but this is clearly written by a very knowledgable and ecclesiastical minded individual. How the book's ownership is inscribed in James' name we can only surmise and making a fascinating book all the more enigmatic.] We believe this is Mr. Spry's life long work interrupted by his demise as there are pencil headings that were prepared for future writings. The handwriting changes over time and gets worse in the final entries, more ink stains etc. These volumes are not paginated, but the laid-in Greek text is, and it comes to a total of 504 pages. With what appears to be the only one exception, the Greek text is all very legible-just the final page has enough ink stains on it to make it very difficult to read. The condition of the boards is good but the binding is good+ and the inside is generally quite clean. The volumes measure 8 x 6 1/4." ; GREEK, eNGLISH; 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall; HANDWRITTEN, MANUSCRIPT, DOCUMENT, LETTER, AUTOGRAPH, WRITER, HAND WRITTEN, GREEK, GREECE, HELLENIC STUDIES, DOCUMENTS, SIGNED, LETTERS, MANUSCRIPTS, HISTORICAL, HOLOGRAPH, WRITERS, AUTOGRAPHS, PERSONAL, PERSONAL HISTORY, RELIGION, ROYALTY, NOBILITY, CALLIGRAPHY, PAPAL, VATICAN, CATHOLIC, ROMAN CATHOLIC, ECCLESIASTIC,antiquité, contrat, vélin, document, manuscrit, papier Antike, Brief, Pergament, Dokument, Manuskript, Papier oggetto d'antiquariato, atto, velina, documento, manoscritto, carta antigüedad, hecho, vitela, documento, Manuscrito, atlas, Engraver, REVEREND, CANTERBURY, MARLEBONE, BOOK