Auction 87 - Jewish and Israeli Art, History and Culture
Including: sketches by Ze'ev Raban and Bezalel items, hildren's books, avant-garde books, rare ladino periodicals, and more
Hebrew Translation of the Hymn "Veni Creator Spiritus" – Wittenberg, 1581 – Rare Printed Item in Hebrew from the Protestant Reformation
Opening: $1,000
Unsold
"Veni Creator Spiritus;" Hebrew translation of the ancient Latin Hymn. Wittenberg: Ex Officina Cratoniana, 1581. Hebrew and some Latin.
Single printed leaf, with a Hebrew translation of the traditional Christian hymn"Veni Creator Spiritus" – 52 vocalized lines, arranged in two columns, within an ornamental border.
Rare. Not listed in the Bibliography of the Hebrew Book, nor in OCLC.
The present version of the hymn was written by the orientalist Christoph Hammer (1550-1597), who was among the first professors of Oriental languages in Jena; he dedicated the hymn to Friedrich Wilhelm I, duke of Saxe-Weimar. Perhaps inspired by Martin Luther's German translation of the hymn, Hammer wrote the Hebrew version in metre and rhyme, unlike the original Latin version.
Most Hebrew works published in the 16th century Germany were printed in Christian presses, which, due to a lack of sufficient knowledge of Hebrew, employed Jewish typesetters and proofreaders (this holds true to the present hymn as well.) The great majority of Christian Hebrew texts printed during the 16th century were Bibles, grammar books, and scholarly works; the publication of a traditional Christian hymn in the Hebrew language during this period was an exceedingly rare occurrence.
[1] f., approx. 41 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains. Creases. Fold lines. Closed and open tears to edges and along fold lines. Small inscription in margin. Mounted on thin paper.
Single printed leaf, with a Hebrew translation of the traditional Christian hymn"Veni Creator Spiritus" – 52 vocalized lines, arranged in two columns, within an ornamental border.
Rare. Not listed in the Bibliography of the Hebrew Book, nor in OCLC.
The present version of the hymn was written by the orientalist Christoph Hammer (1550-1597), who was among the first professors of Oriental languages in Jena; he dedicated the hymn to Friedrich Wilhelm I, duke of Saxe-Weimar. Perhaps inspired by Martin Luther's German translation of the hymn, Hammer wrote the Hebrew version in metre and rhyme, unlike the original Latin version.
Most Hebrew works published in the 16th century Germany were printed in Christian presses, which, due to a lack of sufficient knowledge of Hebrew, employed Jewish typesetters and proofreaders (this holds true to the present hymn as well.) The great majority of Christian Hebrew texts printed during the 16th century were Bibles, grammar books, and scholarly works; the publication of a traditional Christian hymn in the Hebrew language during this period was an exceedingly rare occurrence.
[1] f., approx. 41 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains. Creases. Fold lines. Closed and open tears to edges and along fold lines. Small inscription in margin. Mounted on thin paper.
Hebrew Printing and Jewish Communities in Europe
Hebrew Printing and Jewish Communities in Europe