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10 000 €

Réf : 82797

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[François VATABLE]

[TORAH] Quinque libri legis [BIBLE HEBRAIQUE] (Pentateuque : La Genèse, l'Exode, le Lévitique, les Nombres, le Deutéronome)

Robert Estienne, Paris 1546, in-16 (7x11,5cm), a-r8 s10 [146 f.] et t-z8 aa-kk8 ll3 [124 f.] et mm-yy8 [88 f.] et zz8 A-N8 O10 [122 f.] et P-Z8 AA-DD8 E4 [108 f.], 5 volumes reliés.

[TORAH] Quinque libri legis [BIBLE IN HEBREW]  [ESTIENNE] 
Robert Estienne, Paris 1546, 16mo (7x11,5cm), 5 bound volumes.
First 16mo edition of the Torah in Hebrew by Robert Estienne. Printer's woodcut device on each title page with book titles set within woodcut cartouche head-pieces. Only the title page is in Latin-Hebrew.
Slightly later brown morocco bindings (1590-1615), two of the volumes with a smooth spine, the three others with gilt raised bands, gilt tooled boards, all edges gilt. Some wormholes on the fifth volume, not affecting the text. Numerous contemporary Latin marginalia, mainly in the first two volumes. 
This five-volume Torah includes Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.


"This little edition, said to be very accurate, is a true typographical jewel, and perhaps the most beautiful one ever printed in the Hebrew language.” “Cette petite édition que l'on dit fort exacte, est vraiment un bijou typographique, et peut-être ce qui a jamais été imprimé de plus beau en langue hébraïque" (A. A. Renouard, Annales de l'imprimerie des Estienne)
Brown morocco later binding (1590-1615), smooth spine with gilt fillets, double gilt borders on covers, all edges gilt. Some wormholes to the fifth volume, not affecting the text. Joints, corners and spine-ends expertly restored. 
Numerous contemporary marginal annotations in Latin, manly in the first two volumes. 

“This little edition, said to be very accurate, is a true typographical jewel, and perhaps the most beautiful one ever printed in the Hebrew language.”

(A. A. Renouard, Annales de l'imprimerie des Estienne)
Exceptional copies of the Books of the Bible in Hebrew in first 16mo edition published by Robert Estienne. This pocket edition was printed in 17 volumes between 1544 and 1546, after the success of the four-volume quarto edition printed from 1539 to 1544. Based on the Hebrew Soncino princeps published in 1488, it was established by Humanist François Vatable. The text in Hebrew follows the Masoretic tradition and presents diacritics that facilitate its vocalization.
Talented exegete François Vatable (1495-1547), early scholar of Hebrew studies during the French Renaissance was a member of the 'Cénacle de Meaux' founded by Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples and translated for him in 1509 the Hebraicum, one of the five psalters of the Quincuplex Psalterium published by Henri Estienne. After founding the Collège de France in 1530, King Francis I appointed him chair of Hebrew studies. As a Royal lecturer he actively participated ten years later in a Hebrew edition of the Bible with Robert Estienne (1503-1559) – printer to the King in Latin and Hebrew.
This edition is undoubtedly a real typographical feat for a small format text in Hebrew lettering. It was certainly intended for scholarly use by Sorbonne and Collège Royal students, given its pocket size sold in separate individual volumes. The presence of numerous contemporary marginal notes further indicates its educational purpose, as is the numbering of lines of several pages in some of our volumes. 

A very beautiful and scarce collaborative work by two of the greatest figures of Parisian humanist scholarship – a fine example of the renewed interest in classical texts and their study in the original language.
Provenance: library of Charles John Dimsdale (1801-1872), fifth baron of the Russian Empire, with his bookplate on each pastedown endpaper.

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