Mikneh Avram (Sepher Dikduk) [grammar]

BALMES, ABRAHAM DE.

Daniel Bomberg

(Venice

1523)

FIRST EDITION. Hebrew only issue (with vowel points)

Vinograd, Venice 82; Habermann, Bomberg 75; not in Adams

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. Mikneh Avram appeared in two issues, with and without a Latin translation - one for the Jewish market and a bi-lingual issue more suited to the needs of Christians. The Hebrew version has a different title-page than the bi-lingual edition and the introduction is printed in Rashi letters as opposed to the Latin version which is printed in square letters. This “Jewish” version is far more scarce, as the Christian-owned editions were unlikely to have been ravaged over the centuries. See D. Amram, The Makers of Hebrew Books in Italy (1909), pp.169-172.