Sep 28, 2017 - Sale 2455

Sale 2455 - Lot 135

Price Realized: $ 4,680
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 5,000 - $ 7,500
FIRST AMERICAN EDITION, PROPERTY OF THE CO-EDITOR OF THE SECOND EDITION (JUDAICA.) Biblia Hebraica. [6], 296; [2], 312 leaves. 2 volumes. 8vo, modern calf; original front free endpaper laid down, light toning; early owner's signatures and Hebrew inscriptions on half-titles, perforated library stamps on title pages and elsewhere, bookplates on front free endpapers. Philadelphia: Thomas Dobson, 1814

Additional Details

first hebrew bible published in america. Based on a Bible published in Amsterdam by Everard van der Hooght, this project was launched by Jonathan Horwitz of Philadelphia in 1812, who sold his rights and subscriber list to Thomas Dobson in 1814. The prospectus (not present) promised that it would be printed "with a new pica Hebrew type, cast for the purpose at the foundery of Binny and Ronaldson." This edition was mainly intended for an audience of Gentile scholars, as shown by its unpointed text and Latin preface. This particular copy was owned by the Rev. Joseph Jaquett, an Episcopalian scholar from Philadelphia whose name may be familiar to Judaica collectors. In 1848, Jaquett would partner with Isaac Leeser to produce an edition of the Biblia Hebraica with vowels and musical notations (see Goldman 9), presumably using the present copy as a reference. Provenance: The Rev. Joseph Jaquett (1794-1869), 1819 (half-title inscription); gift of descendant Edwin Jaquett Sellers (1865-1946) to Protestant Episcopal Divinity School of Philadelphia, 1902 (perforated stamps, bookplates with "withdrawn" stamp). Goldman 4; Rosenbach 171; Singerman 236.