Mikneh Avram - Peculium Abrae

BALMES, ABRAHAM DE.

Daniel Bomberg

Venice

1523

FIRST EDITION. Hebrew and Latin on facing pages

Vinograd, Venice 81; Habermann, Bomberg 76; Mehlman 1868; not in Adams

Distinguished in many fields, de Balmes served as physician to Cardinal Grimani of Venice, translator of scientific and philosophical works from Hebrew into Latin, and as lecturer at the University of Padua where he attained renown as an Aristotelian. Greatly valued by contemporary Christian Hebraists, de Balmes prepared this grammar at the urging of the printer Bomberg, with whom a deep friendship was shared. The work appeared in two issues, with and without a Latin translation. Heinrich Graetz in his Geschichte (vol. IX, 215) has attempted to suggest that the translation was prepared by Bomberg himself. See Amram, The Makers of Hebrew Books in Italy pp.169-72 Provenance: Sotheby’s New York, Valuable Hebrew Printed Books - The Property of the Valmadonna Trust, 5th December 1984, lot 53