(AMERICAN JUDAICA).

AUCTION 49 | Wednesday, October 27th, 2010 at 1:00

Fine Judaica: Hebrew Printed Books, Manuscripts, Autograph Letters and Graphic Art

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Lot 7

(AMERICAN JUDAICA).

Monis, Judah. Dickdook Leshon Gnebreet. Grammar of the Hebrew Tongue. Being an Essay to Bring the Hebrew Grammar into English to Facilitate the Instruction of All Those who are Desirous of Acquiring a Clear Idea of this Primitive Tongue by their Own Studies...Published More Especially for the Use of the Students of Harvard College at Cambridge, in New England pp.(4), 94, (2). Trimmed, pin-prick worm-hole through opening four leaves, stained. Contemporary marbled boards, corners bumped, rebacked. Provided within folding-case and calf-backed slip-case. 4to Singerman 24; Rosenbach 28 (illustrated); Evans 3931

Boston: Jonas Green 1735

Est: $10,000 - $15,000

PRICE REALIZED $9,000

The First Hebrew Grammar Published in the New World. The First Book Printed by a Jew in North America. Obtained from England by the Corporation of Harvard College, Monis' Grammar was printed from “the first complete font of Hebrew types in the American Colonies.” It served several generations of American students as the principal text-book for the study of Hebrew. For a short overview of Monis’ life, see A.J. Karp, From the Ends of the Earth: Judaic Treasure from the Library of Congress (1991) pp. 285-88; M. Klein, Judah Monis: A Jew at Harvard in the Eighteenth Century in: Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Vol. XCVII (1986); and G.A. Kohut, Judah Monis, The First Instructor in Hebrew at Harvard University in: The American Journal of Semitic Languages, Vol. XIV. See also, W. Eames, On the Use of Hebrew Types in English America before 1735 in: Studies in Jewsh Bibliography and Related Subjects in Memory of A.S. Freidus (1929) p. 481 Singerman 24; Rosenbach 28 (illustrated); Evans 3931