Introductio ad Litteras Hebraicas [“Introduction to Hebrew Letters.”]

(SONCINO PRESS)

Hieronymus Soncinus (i.e. Gershom Soncino)

Pesaro

1510

FIRST EDITION. Latin and Hebrew interspersed. Hebrew provided with nikud (vowel points).

Vinograd, Pesaro 9.

A scarce Hebrew primer that guides the student in comprehending the Hebrew alphabet and the various vowel points. Concludes with Hebrew text of Chapter I of the Book of Psalms along with an interlinear Latin translation. Interestingly, the Hebrew pronunciation provided is of Sephardic enunciation rather than Aschkenazic - hence, a Hebrew letter punctuated with the vowel-point “kamatz” is here transliterated as “a” rather than “o”. Introducing the work, Soncino reveals that it is a copy of another composition he had previously written, which had been poorly printed by Aldus Manutius, whom he describes as ‘an ignoramus of Hebrew letters’.