(RaDa”K). Sepher Hashorashim [“Book of Roots;” Biblical lexicon and grammar]
AUCTION 47 |
Thursday, December 10th,
2009 at 1:00
Fine Judaica: Hebrew Printed Books, Manuscripts, Graphic & Ceremonial Art
Lot 179
KIMCHI, DAVID.
(RaDa”K). Sepher Hashorashim [“Book of Roots;” Biblical lexicon and grammar]
Venice: Daniel Bomberg 1529
Est: $2,000 - $3,000
PRICE REALIZED $2,800
A scarce edition of this influential Hebrew lexicographical work. An uncensored copy.
The Provencal exegete and grammarian R. David Kimchi (1160?-1235?), was a life-long anti-Christian polemicist. Unusually, this edition of Kimchi’s work explicitly retains the word “Notzrim” and other such references. Under the entry “elem” (column 361), the author, quoting his father R. Joseph Kimchi, derides the Christian assertion that the word “almah” (a young girl) found in Isaiah Chap 7:14 refers to a virgin birth. Remarkably, the passage has survived intact. In most other copies, the offending lines were vehemently struck out by the ever-watchful Church censor