Introductio ad Litteras Hebraicas [“Introduction to Hebrew Letters.”]
Auction 85 |
Thursday, November 07th,
2019 at 1:00pm
Fine Judaica: Printed Books, Manuscripts, Graphic & Ceremonial Art
Lot 185
(SONCINO PRESS)
Introductio ad Litteras Hebraicas [“Introduction to Hebrew Letters.”]
Pesaro: Hieronymus Soncinus (i.e. Gershom Soncino) 1510
Est: $4,000 - $6,000
PRICE REALIZED $5,000
A scarce Hebrew primer that guides the student in comprehending the Hebrew alphabet and the various vowel points. Concludes with Hebrew text of Chapter I of the Book of Psalms along with an interlinear Latin translation. Interestingly, the Hebrew pronunciation provided is of Sephardic enunciation rather than Aschkenazic - hence, a Hebrew letter punctuated with the vowel-point “kamatz” is here transliterated as “a” rather than “o”.
Introducing the work, Soncino reveals that it is a copy of another composition he had previously written, which had been poorly printed by Aldus Manutius, whom he describes as ‘an ignoramus of Hebrew letters’.