First edition of by far the best edition of the Syriac New Testament published before the 19th-century, edited by Aegidius Gutbier, which remained the standard Syriac text until Samuel Lee's 1823 edition. For the first book (the gospel of Matthew) it includes Gutbier's Latin translation of the Syriac at the foot of the page. With the New Testament are two complementary works by Gutbier, produced in matching format and intended to accompany it: his Syriac lexicon giving the Syriac words with their Latin equivalents, followed by an index of the Latin words; and his extensive notes on the Syriac text of the New Testament, with alternative readings from the many sources he examined.
The Syriac text provides valuable clues to the original Aramaic sources of the New Testament.
With a 1691 Amsterdam purchase inscription and two 1859 owner's inscriptions. In good condition, with the lower right corner of the engraved title-page under-inked, the paper slightly browned and an occasional minor spot or small stain. Binding with some of the vellum tapes broken at the hinge, some cracks in the hinges and with the back of the bookblock reinforced, but still generally good. Three complementary books forming the most important reference work for 17th- and 18th-century Syriac studies. Coakley, Typography of Syriac W23; VD17, 39:142375F, 3:316277C, 75:689489C; not in Philologia orientalis.