Teshu’ath Yisroel Bidei Yehudith.

FRANCO-MENDES, DAVID.

Heidenheim and Baschwitz

Rödelheim

1804

First Edition. Printed on green-tinted paper.

Vinograd, Roedelheim 32.

Translation from Italian to Hebrew of Pietro Metastasio’s La Betulia Liberata (The Liberation of Bethulia). David Franco-Mendes (1713-92) was a Sephardic businessman and scholar in Amsterdam. In his introduction, he states he intended to draw attention to the story of Judith, as it was relatively unknown. In presenting the narrative in Hebrew, he highlighted Hebrew’s versatility and demonstrates that it too could be used as a prosaic, artful language. This love of Hebrew was evidently inspired by R. Moshe Luzzatto (Ramcha’l), a former tutor of Franco-Mendes and another noteworthy early pioneer of Hebrew playwriting.