Jews and Christians: Fruitful Collaborations | | 2 |
| 1 | W B371-373
Mikraot Gedolot = Biblia Rabbinica
Basel: Ludwig König, 1618.
In his Venetian printing house, Daniel Bomberg published the first Biblia rabbinica (Mikraot gedolot) in 1516-1517. In this edition the biblical text was accompanied with the Targums and biblical commentaries, and for the first time, with some Masoretic notes. In 1524-1525, Bomberg published the second Great Rabbinic Bible, this time with the Masoretic annotations of Jacob ben Hayyim ibn Adonijah. This edition became the 'received text' for Christians. A century after its first edition, Johannes Buxtorf (the elder), the professor of Hebrew at the University of Basel decided to re-publish the Biblia rabbinica in order to provide theologians with the essential tool for interpreting the Old Testament at an affordable price.
Besides the rich architectural frame of the title page, the beginning of each book was decorated with an engraved initial-word panel. The copy on exhibit is the first volume of the work. It has several interesting features revealing its provenance: an ownership inscription of one Meyer Judt of Schmalkalden (on front flyleaf), a deleted ownership inscription on the top of the title page, a Yiddish text on the page opposite to the title page, and notes on births at the end of the first volume.
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Title page and verso flyleaf
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Bereshit opening
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Birth notes at the end
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Ownership notes on front flyleaf
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Quick links to other sections of the exhibition
Christian Hebraists | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Telling books – provenance cases | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
The First Mishneh Torah Printed in Amsterdam | 1 |
Jews and Christians: Fruitful Collaborations |1 | 2 |
