Cyssondeb Y Pedair Efengyl. EVANS (John).

THE FIRST BIBLE COMMENTARY IN WELSH

Cyssondeb Y Pedair Efengyl: Gyd Ag Agoriad Byrr, A Nodau Athrawus, Ar yr hyn a dybir dywyllaf ac anhawsaf ynddynt. Yn y blaen y mae hefyd Ragdraethawd buddiol yn arwain at y Cyffondeb, gan osod allan Hanes y wir Grefydd a'i llewyrchiad fwy-fwy trwy bob oes er dechreuad y byd. Chwanegwyd hefyd Rif-red yr Amseroedd. Gan John Evans, Athraw yn y Celfyddydau.

Woodcut head and tail-pieces.

First Edition. 8vo. [209 x 130 x 39 mm]. [2]ff, iv, 508, iii, [i] pp. Bound in contemporary calf, the covers with a gilt double fillet border, rebacked preserving original spine divided into six panels with raised bands and gilt compartments, lettered in the second on a red goatskin label, the others tooled in gilt with a flower and leafy tendrils, plain endleaves and edges. (Rubbed, staining from turn-ins).

[Bristol] Argraphedig ym Mristo gan E. Farley, 1765

Libri Walliae 1960.

Damp-stain at upper outer corner of opening leaves and some minor soiling and staining, but a good copy. Many of the pages contain some manuscript corrections or over-writing of weakly printed words, and the final page of errata is marked "Corrected" by hand. With the original book label of Thomas Beynon, of Green-Meadow. The Rev. Thomas Beynon (1744-1833), Archdeacon of Cardigan, literary figure and eisteddfodwr, resided at Green-Meadows, Llansadwra, Carmarthenshire.

ESTC locates only two copies, at Cambridge University (Selina, Countess of Huntingdon's copy) and Christ Church, Oxford.

John Evans (d.1779) was born at Llangeitho, Cardiganshire, and is said to have been educated at Oxford University. His first curacy was that of Llannarth, from where he moved to Portsmouth. His Cyssondeb Y Pedair Efengyl ("Harmony of the Four Gospels") was the first commentary in Welsh on any portion of the Bible, being five years earlier than the commentary of Peter Williams. A second edition was published in 1804. Evans is supposed to have seen through the press of the Welsh Bible of 1769, which ran to 20,000 copies.

Stock no. ebc8910