NARES, Robert. The Veracity of the Evangelists Demonstrated, by a Comparative View of Their Histories. London: printed for F. C. and J. Rivington, 1816. 12mo.
An attractive first edition of Robert Nares’s study of the historical consistency of the Gospel narratives. Nares approaches the Evangelists comparatively, examining differences of wording, sequence and testimony while arguing that their accounts remain mutually corroborative. Particular attention is given to passages shared between the Synoptic Gospels, culminating in the folding Greek table at the end of the volume, which places the accounts of the Parable of the Sower alongside one another for direct comparison.
Robert Nares (1753–1829) was an English clergyman, philologist and antiquary. He served at the British Museum, first as Assistant Librarian and, from 1799 to 1807, as Keeper of Manuscripts, and became Archdeacon of Stafford in 1801. A Fellow of both the Society of Antiquaries and the Royal Society, he was also a founding editor of the British Critic, which he edited from its establishment in 1793 until 1813. He is best remembered for his substantial Glossary, or Collection of Words, Phrases, Names, and Allusions (1822), devoted particularly to the language and literature of the Elizabethan period.
Contemporary half calf over marbled boards, with calf corners; spine divided by gilt rules and decorated with repeated gilt floral tools, the title lettered directly in gilt.
The work belongs to the early nineteenth-century tradition of Christian evidential writing and is an interesting example of comparative analysis of the Gospel narratives.
Size
19.5 × 12 cm.
Condition
Binding sound and attractive, with light rubbing and wear to the calf, principally at the extremities and corners; gilt decoration and lettering remain bright and clear. Marbled boards well preserved, with only minor surface wear. Internally generally clean, with occasional light spotting and toning, mainly to the endpapers. Text block firm. Terminal folding comparative table complete and well preserved, with the folds remaining sound. A particularly neat copy in an appealing contemporary binding.
Bibliographical Note
First edition. 288 pp., followed by a terminal folding comparative table, headed Appendix No. V. The Parable of the Sower, presenting parallel passages from Matthew, Mark and Luke in Greek.
A second edition, with additions, followed in 1819. The first edition appears uncommon in commerce.
