The Sacred Anthology (Oriental) A Book of Ethnical Scriptures

New York: Henry Holt and Co, 1877. Fifth Edition. Hardcover. Fair/None. Light brown to mauve cloth boards, 12mo., with gilt titling on front and spine, moderate edge and corner wear. Spine darkened. (See photo.) Rear hinge cracked but attached; pencil notations on rear pastedown and light pencil marginalia in preface, not found in rest of text. The second end page has light pencil writing across it that's been erased. Owner's address label to front pastedown. Binding sound. NOT a reprint or print-on-demand. The editor has believed that it would be useful for moral and religious culture if the sympathy of Religions could be more generally made known, and the converging testimonies of ages and races to great principles more widely appreciated. The reverence of races for their scriptures is sometimes ascribed to superstition. But the increasing interest of scholars in them attests deeper sources of that reverence. The fact that they have survived so long is a confirmation of their excellence. [The ancient scriptures] originated in a primitive phase of the moral nature of man which cannot be repeated in cultured and complex societies and can be known only by these its simple records. (from the Prefaces). Sacred writings from within and outside the Hebrew and Christian scriptures. With chronological notes and index.