1852 Theodore Beza Novum Testamentum Gauffered Edge Book
1852 Theodore Beza Novum Testamentum Gauffered Edge Book
Theodoro Beza's New Testament in Latin is not a common thing to hold. Most collectors encounter it through reputation, through its influence on Calvin's Geneva, through the chain of scholarship that runs from his textual work forward into the King James tradition. To actually have it in hand, in a compact Victorian pocket edition, felt in Edinburgh cloth and gilt, is something else entirely.
T. Nelson and Sons produced these small Latin Testaments for a specific kind of reader: the student of theology, the traveling clergyman, the educated layman who still moved between languages with ease. By 1852 that world was narrowing, Latin increasingly the province of the seminary and the university rather than the parlour, and there is something quietly poignant about that. A book designed for daily use by a reading class that was slowly disappearing.
[d]Author | Theodoro Beza (Theodore Beza, 1519–1605) [d]Title | Novum Testamentum Domini Nostri Jesu Christi [d]Publisher | T. Nelson and Sons [d]Date | 1852 (MDCCCLII) [d]Origin | Edinburgh, Scotland [d]Language | Latin [d]Binding | Full pebbled leather, blind-ruled boards, gilt spine lettering, all edges gilt with decorative stamped pattern, marbled endpapers in red and blue [d]Provenance | Manuscript inscription: "Maria March," period hand, 19th century [d]Dimensions | 5.5 in H x 3.75 in W x 0.5 in D
[condition] The binding is tight and fully intact, the boards holding square with no warping or cracking to the spine. The pebbled leather retains good surface texture with light wear to the board corners and spine head and foot, consistent with a book that was handled but cared for. The gilt edges remain bright and the decorative stamped pattern is clearly legible. Marbled endpapers are vivid and show no foxing or water staining. The text block is clean and tight, the pages bright with no significant foxing, dampstaining, or annotation beyond the single ownership inscription on the title page or flyleaf. A very good copy, presenting considerably better than its age might suggest.