102 209 KIMCHI, DAVID. Sepher HaShorashim [“Book of Roots”: a Biblical lexicon and grammar]. Third edition. Wide margins. ff. 124 (of 168). Provided in facsimile: Opening 33 leaves and closing 13 leaves. Some staining, few marginal repairs. Modern morocco. Folio.[Vinograd, Naples 19; Offenberg 106; Goff Heb. 40; Freimann-Marx, Thesaurus A-69; Wineman Cat. 43.] Naples, Joshua Solomon Soncino, 1491. $10,000-12,000 ❧ THE MOST INFLUENTIAL LEXICOGRAPHICAL WORK FOR THE STUDY OF HEBREW. The formation of Hebrew grammatical rules was essential to facilitate the study and understanding of the Bible. Kimchi’s Shorashim with its “very rich collection of lexicographic material…increased the knowledge of the Hebrew language. This he accomplished with numerous new etymologies as well as new comparisons with post- Biblical Hebrew” (J. Bloch, Hebrew Printing in Naples, in: Hebrew Printing and Bibliography (1976) pp. 111-38). The popularity of the Sepher HaShorashim is evidenced from the fact that two editions appeared in Naples within a period of five months. The present 1491 edition was not censored unlike that of 1490, where blank spaces were left rather than include Kimchi’s comments that seek to disprove the Christian mistranslation of Isaiah 7:14 and its related Christological reference. See G. Cohen, Hebrew Incunabula in the Library of Yeshiva University (1984) p. 87. 210 KIMCHI, MOSES. Sepher Dikduk (Mahalach Shvilei HaDa’ath). With introduction and commentary attributed to Benjamin ben Judah Bozecco. Early owner’s inscriptions. ff. 34. The following leaves supplied in facsimile: 5, 8, 10-16, 21. Worn and stained, neat paper repairs, title-page and f. 6 with small portion supplied in facsimile. Modern vellum. Sm. 4to. [Vinograd, Ortona 1 (NLI copy incomplete).] Ortona, Gershom Soncino, 1519. $5000-7000 ❧ EXCEPTIONALLY RARE. THE ONLY HEBREW BOOK PRINTED IN ORTONA a small coastal town in the Italian region of Abruzzo. The author R. Moses Kimchi (d. c. 1190), was the older brother of R. David Kimchi and raised him from a young age after the passing of their father. R. Moses was an accomplished scholar in his own right, and in addition to this work, issued popular commentaries to the books of Proverbs, Ezra and Nechemiah, which, while found in many contemporary rabbinic Bibles, are mistakenly attributed to ibn Ezra. The first edition of the present work was issued in 1488 at the press of Gershom Soncino’s uncle, Joshua, making it the first Hebrew grammar book to be printed. In it, the author uses extraordinarily concise language to discuss the basic rules of Hebrew. The secondary title of the book, Mahalach Shvilei HaDa’ath, is an acrostic for the author’s name. Although attributed to R. Benjamin ben Judah, the commentary is really that of R. Elijah Levita Bachur. See M. J. Heller, The Sixteenth Century Hebrew Book, Vol. I, pp. 122-23. Lot 209 Lot 210