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New Testament Bible & the Gospel of Matthew in the GOTHIC LANGUAGE - $65 (Ballwin / Wildwood)
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Now I’ll get “into the weeds” a bit, but just enough to give a basic clarification. Most, but not all, European languages belong to a language group, just one of many such major world language groups, known as Indo-European which was never spoken as such but has been reconstructed by historical linguists as that from which many major modern languages developed. Some of those “daughter” languages no long exist but many do, with millions of speakers. Wikipedia, at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-European_languages, is a good source for more information. It is a very interesting read - go ahead and check it out.
One of the branches of I.E. is Germanic, consisting now of West Germanic - English, Dutch, German, and others, North Germanic - the Scandinavian languages, and East Germanic of which there are no modern day users, but Gothic was one of the largest parts of the East Germanic languages. There was never a South Germanic language.
Most folks know the word ‘gothic’ from one of two sources : current folks who live a ‘gothic’ lifestyle but that has nothing to do with the Gothic language. The other connection is with the history of Europe in the first millenium of the modern era, when we learn of the Visigoths who inhabited parts of modern France and Spain after “messing around” in Rome in the early 5th century and the Ostrogoths [eastern] whose homeland was around the Black Sea but who also had a go at Rome, the big prize of that era.
ARE YOU STILL WITH ME ? Hope so -now it gets back to the book for sale :
I studied the development of the Germanic language branch of I.E. at a famous German univeristy in the late 1960s and one day went into an Antiquariat, a book store focused on old books, in my unverisity town. There I saw this book for sale and just had to have it. Not only was it pertinent to my academic field at that time but I was also fascinated by the age of the book - published in 1858 in Paderborn, Germany. I bought it instantly.
Those days are now behind me and it’s time for the book to move on to someone else who will prize it as much as I did.
I can explain more if desired when a prospective buyer and I meet in person.
It was signed in 1862 by its first owner, Theodor Loeser. It is almost 200 years old and shows its age but is still very much physically intact. Size - 5 ¼” x 8”. There are 472 pages in all, still tightly bound together. Having been published in Germany, its clarifying remarks are in modern German. It contains these sections : Introduction, 260 pages of Gothic gospel text, a partial Gothic calendar, 20 pages of relevant readings, and extensive data on the sounds of words, morphology, word formation, syntax and 100 pages of Gothic translated into modern German, a Gothic dictionary if you will.
It is believed to have been supported/promoted by Ulfila, a Gothic bishop, about whom Wikipedia also has some information. Check their listing for some information about Ulfila under “Gothic Bible’.
Quite an extensive work !
A curiosity, a scholarly tour-de-force, a window into a language spoken 2,000 years ago, a real prize in one’s library, and certainly, something to give a bibliophile some serious bragging rights ! And, for the right person, a look at a whole new ‘old’ world of languages !
As the Mastercard saying goes ....." it's priceless" !
Thank you for persevering through my long discourse.
PLEASE LOOK AT MY OTHER ITEMS FOR SALE by clicking on the link “more ads by this seller” in a blue font type under the map image on this page and to the right of the photos in the ad.
The seller lives near the intersection of Clayton and Clarkson Roads in western St. Louis County and is very flexible on when and where we can meet.
Cash only, COD, please.
Thank you for your interest in this posting.