(The Elder). Lexicon Chaldaicum, Talmudicum et Rabbinicum

Buxtorf, Johannes

Basle

1640

Bound in two volumes

Prijs, Basle 237

Johannes Buxtorf I (or the Elder) (1564-1629) served as professor of Hebrew at the University of Basle. According to Moritz Kayserling, he was the “principal founder of Rabbinical study among Christian scholars” (JE vol. 3, p. 444). His colossal Lexicon Chaldaicum Talmudicum was completed by his son, Johannes the Younger. Though unreliable, it served generations of Christian scholars as a guide to their studies in Talmud and rabbinics. The Lexicon was published in variant editions from 1639-1640. A few copies contain an engraved title and frontispiece portrait of Buxtorf dated 1639. Prijs believed that the 1640 date is erroneous (“sicher irrtumlich”). Probably due to its popularity, it was reissued a year later with a new title page.