(BIBLE,.

Daniel Bomberg

Venice

1524 & 1522

Hebrew. PSALMS). Third Bomberg edition. ff. (158). Previous owners Latin inscriptions and caricature (in the Rowlandson style) on title. Scattered Latin marginalia. Venice, Sons of Baruch Adelkind for Daniel Bomberg, 1524. * BOUND WITH: (BIBLE, Hebrew. PROVERBS, SONG OF SONGS & KOHELETH). AND: Letter from Daniel Bomberg to Johannes Reuchlin. First Bomberg Edition. ff. (89).

Steinschneider, Cat. Bodl. no. 50 and cf. 43; [cf. Vinograd, Venice 97 & 67 and Habermann, Bomberg 92 & 73a]

THE PRESENT VOLUME IS ONE OF ONLY TWO COPIES EXTANT OF THIS BOMBERG PRODUCTION AND THE ONLY KNOWN COPY OF THE PROVERBS, SONG OF SONGS & KOHELETH COMPENDIUM OUTSIDE THE BODLEIAN LIBRARY, OXFORD. Steinschneider alone among bibliographers accurately describes the present volume. It contains Daniel Bomberg’s third edition of the Psalms printed in 1524 (although the colophon, gives the date as 1525) bound with Bomberg’s first edition of Proverbs, Song of Songs and Koheleth printed earlier in 1522, to which is appended Bomberg’s letter to the Christian Hebraist, Johannes Reuchlin, dated 11th February 1522. Habermann, in his bibliography of the printer Daniel Bomberg notes an unseen Proverbs, Song of Songs and Koheleth printed in 1522; and notes the 1524 edition of Psalms and points out the variant date given in the colophon, but has no knowledge of the present volume. (Habermann, Bomberg 73a & 92). Similarly, Vinograd repeats this listing. (Vinograd, Venice 67& 97). Vinograd citing Habermann, notes that there are copies known of Bomberg’s second edition of Proverbs, Song of Songs and Koheleth (1524) bound with Psalms. (See Vinograd, Venice 95 and Habermann, Bomberg 88). Thus it is clear that some copies of Bomberg’s third edition of Psalms were bound together with Proverbs, Song of Songs and Koheleth. It is likely that in the first instance, the remaining copies of the 1522 first edition of Proverbs, Song of Songs and Koheleth were attached and once they were all sold, copies of the 1524 second edition were used to fill the quota of combined copies