Edinburgh, by the heires of Andro Hart, 1629 (On first title-page), 1628 (on second title-page). 8vo. In contemporary full calf with triple ruled fillets to boards. Wear to extremities, upper half of spine with loss of leather. Scratches and holes in the leather to boards. Annotations and previous owner's name to front front free end-paper. The previous owner's name written on several leaves throughout the book. (60), 564 pp.
The exceedingly rare first edition of Boyd’s most substantial and arguably most famous prose treatise, a text written in the ‘Ars moriendi’-tradition. Zacharie Boyd (c. 1585–1653) was a Scottish clergyman, poet and supporter of Presbyterianism. He studied at the University of Glasgow and served as minister of the Barony Church and Vice-Chancellor of the university. Boyd is best known for his ‘Boyd's Bible’, a paraphrase of Scripture into Scottish verse and the present work.