Rare 1523 Hebrew-Latin Lexicon – Unusual Blindstamped Binding with Title

1523. Item #79

Rare 1523 Hebrew-Latin Lexicon – Unusual Blindstamped Binding with Title"

MUENSTER, SEBASTIAN. Aruch Ha’Shorashot. [Dictionarium Hebraicum]. [Basel]: Froben, 1523.

8vo. 525 leaves. Decorative initial woodcuts throughout, printer’s marks on titles. Contemporary blindstamped pigskin with remnants of metal clasps. An unusual binding, with the title D. Hebraicum stamped in blind directly onto the front cover—an uncommon feature in early 16th-century bindings.

Provenance: Chicago Theological Seminary; likely from the Samuel Curtis collection, with ex-libris, labels, and a small stamp; earlier Jesuit provenance. Some light toning, but overall a very attractive copy, some very slight inner marginal worming to title page, 

Sebastian Münster, a pivotal figure in 16th-century Hebrew studies, compiled this early Hebrew-Latin lexicon at a time when Christian Hebraism was experiencing a scholarly renaissance. A student of Elias Levita, Münster sought to bridge linguistic and theological gaps by producing one of the first comprehensive dictionaries for Hebrew roots. Printed by Johann Froben, a major humanist printer in Basel, this lexicon reflects the intersection of Renaissance typography and Jewish textual tradition, making it a cornerstone for early modern biblical and linguistic studies.

Price: $1,450.00