Religion & Spirituality

A surviving Sedaik manuscript chest.

Housed in a rare surviving manuscript case: a Burmese lacquered manuscript of a Buddhist monastic text. The manuscript case, called a sedaik, is rarely preserved alongside such manuscripts. Such cases were specially made for manuscripts held in monasteries and in the homes of wealthy Buddhist families; lavishly decorated and painted in gold, with five sides made up of a metal grille punched with geometric designs, the sedaik signifies the importance of the text housed inside. It had practical uses as well: raised off the floor on four legs, it kept manuscripts away from water damage, and its decorative metal grille was a useful defence against rats and mice.

First edition of the Desatir, containing large portions printed in a secret language – a fraudulent text of Zoroastrianism

First edition, the Desatir is a 16th century work claiming to date from the Sasanian period, one of several works originating from an Indian milieu of mystic Zoroastrianism which attempted to show that a mystical form of Zoroastrianism preceded the ‘historical’ form.

Pre-Gutenberg Chinese printing and silk weaving: a consecutive set of five volumes of the Garland Sutra in original brocade bindings

An extremely early Chinese block-printed suite of the Garland Sutra, beautifully preserved in the original, museum-quality medieval brocade bindings: an outstanding and near-unique example of Buddhist culture and the Chinese art of silk weaving as well as printing in the earliest decades of the 15th century.

Extremely rare catechism printed in Tamil by the VOC, one of the earliest books printed in Ceylon

Exceptionally rare first edition of this pioneering effort of the Ceylonese press and a milestone for missionary printing in Tamil, spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia (namely India and Sri Lanka), with overtones of colonial politics and the economic interests of the VOC. Tamil is one of the longest-surviving classical languages in the world.

Abu Rumi's complete translation of the Bible in Amharic

First edition of the Gospels in Amharic. Abu Rumi (ca. 1750-1819) is remembered as the translator of the first complete Bible in Amharic, the national language of Ethiopia. Previously, only partial Amharic translations had existed, and the Ethiopian Bible existed only in Ge'ez, the ancient liturgical language of Ethiopia. Abu Rumi's story is recorded by William Jowett: he was educated in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, but it is not clear if he was a monk, priest, or had any official status within the church.

The life of Saint Teresa of Jesus

Rare and sought-after early edition of this biography of Saint Teresa of Jesus, illustrated with a full page portrait of the Saint, the first woman proclaimed Doctor of the Church for her extraordinary spiritual and theological depth.

Russo-American religious texts in Aleutian language

Exceptionally rare Russo-American religious texts published in the Aleutian language by Ivan, or Ioann, Veniaminov (1797-1879), the pioneering linguist, Russian orthodox priest and missionary to Alaska. In 1977 he was canonized as St. Innocent of Moscow and venerated as "Enlightener [Apostle] of Alaska and Siberia." Last seen in auction at Sotheby's in 1967. The Russian and Aleut (including some in the Atkan dialect) texts printed in Cyrillic characters.

The life of the first Mexican-born Saint, a Protomartyrs of Japan, first edition to be illustrated

Second or third edition, the first to be illustrated apparently, rare when preserving the plate, the official account of the first Mexican-born Saint, and one of the Protomartyrs of Japan.

The first original printed work by a living author in Irish

An exceptionally rare Irish devotional: the first edition of the first original work by a living author in Irish. The few works printed in Irish appearing prior to this were the Bible, liturgy, or translations of the works of others. This is one of a small group of books from the first press to print and promote Irish writing in the vernacular. The press was an outgrowth of a concentration of scholars skilled in Irish and other languages at St. Anthony's, the Franciscan college at Louvain, which acquired the press in 1611. Active from 1614 to 1618, it issued five books. Though their primary purpose was to train priests for the Irish and Scottish missions, they also published literary works for a wider Irish audience. This was the last production before the press became inactive in Irish printing until 1641, by which date a new fount had been made.

Letters from Jesuits and Kirishitans

Very rare Portuguese edition of a collection of letters from Japan and India written by Jesuit missionaries and notable Japanese kirishitans. It includes the 1589 and 1590 annual letters from Japan by Luís Fróis (1532-1597), addressed to Alessandro Valignano, Visitor of the East Indies, in Rome.

Edward Clifford’s Bible, with inscription by Saint Damien of Molokai, the Apostle of the Lepers

The British artist Edward Clifford’s Bible with an inscription by Saint Damien of Molokai: a heavily worked and extraordinarily personal copy of Bagster’s English Polyglot Bible, transformed by the owner into a hybrid of devotional book, travel diary, sketch-album, and memorial volume, and inscribed by Damien at Kalawao on 20 December 1888, only months before his death.

The first publication in Irish from the Vatican's Propaganda press

First edition of first book to be printed in Irish by the Congregatio de Propaganda Fide. Produced against the backdrop of an era when Irish Catholics were facing oppression from English Protestant dominion, the volume is a testimony to the intertwining of language, religion and national identity in Ireland at a formative moment.

An early Catholic guide book on self-improvement, and a fascinating illustrated incunable

The Speculum vitae humanae, or Mirror of Human Life, is a popular work on how to live virtuously. Intended as an aid to make the right decisions in life, the text discusses the advantages and shortcomings of all the secular and ecclesiastical professions and estates in medieval society, here in a remarkable and finely illustrated incunable, including 55 woodcuts and large Maiblumen initials.

Jesuits around the Globe, with the extraordinary Jesuit map of the Philippines

A treasure trove of 18th century Jesuit missionary activity, compiled by the Jesuit priest and mission historian Fr. Joseph Stöcklein (1676-1733), Der Neue Welt-Bott stands as a grand printed archive of Jesuit missions, a vast compendium of letters and reports reaching from New Spain, California, Sonora, Paraguay, Peru, and the Amazon basin to the wider overseas world, including Pacific islands and the Philippines. A bibliographically complex work, it was published in 38 parts through 1761 and is very rarely found complete, which makes any extensive set especially desirable. The present offering consists of parts 1-32, inclusive (i.e. volumes I - IV of the Neue Welt-Bott). Notably, volume one is present in the first edition, with the 1726 title page (a 1728 second edition is more common seen).