Alphabeti ver`e Naturalis Hebraici brevissima delineatio [“A Brief Delineation of the True Nature of the Hebrew Alphabet.”]

Estimate: $1,500–$1,800
Hammer price: Not recorded

Historical auction record. Hammer prices exclude buyer’s premium and taxes.

author

HELMONT, FRANCISCUS MERCURIUS BARON VON.

printer

Abraham Lichtenthaler

Place

Sulzbach

Publication

1657

Description

Engraved frontispiece signed “F. Franck.” With 36 extraordinary engravings of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

references

Freimann, p. 84.

summary

Franciscus Mercurius van Helmont (1614-99) was a Belgian physician and philosopher. He postulates here that Hebrew is the most suitable language for teaching the deaf and dumb to speak. The most unusual copper engravings are designed to display the parts of the mouth from which a specific Hebrew sound is produced. See A. J. Klijnsmit, F. M. van Helmont: Kabbalist and Phonetician, in: Studia Rosenthaliana 30:2 (1996) pp. 267-281.

pp. (36), 107, (1); ff. 36. Browned. Contemporary vellum. 12mo.

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