Description

THE EARLIEST PRINTED HEBREW CALLIGRAPHY MANUAL
Oblong 4to (232x128 mm). Engraved title page featuring penworks, lions, hares, and putti, bearing the title in Hebrew and Italian and Mantua as the printing place; 7 leaves including the typographic title page in Italian (Saggio di caratteri ebraici ad uso della studiosa gioventù di Giuseppe Vigevano Mantovano, with Reggio as the printing place and the imprimatur of the Mantua rabbis printed on verso) and 24 columns of text on 6 leaves; [1] leaf with corrections; 12 numbered plates engraved by F. Pirani with specimens of Hebrew letters (“Lettere Radicali -- Lettere Derivative -- Elementi e Lettere Radicali -- Alfabeto Scripturale -- Alfabeto Corsivo -- Practica di Scrittura Scritturale -- Practica di Carattere Rabbinico – Practica di Carattere Corsivo -- Della Punteggiatura -- Numerazione Ebraica -- Nomenclatura Ebraica -- Penna Perfetta”). Contemporay marbled wrappers (slightly worn at the edges). Folded in two and somewhat clumsily sewn, so the pages are slightly loose, some signs of wear on the margins, some marginal staining and foxing (more pronounced on plate 11). A good, genuine copy.
Rare original edition of the earliest printed Hebrew calligraphy manual. In the preface, Vigevano assures his readers that in producing this volume he took into consideration the writings of illustrious Jewish scholars, including Mishneh Torah by Maimonides, Shulhan Arukh by Joseph Caro, Mor u-Ketziah by Jacob Emden, Mikneh Avraham by Abraham de Balmes, Levushim by Mordecai Yaffe, and Agur by Jacob Landau. In the following pages, which form the theoretical section of the manual, Vigevano then discusses issues such as the “Body posture and how to hold the pen,” the elements of the “Scriptural or Square” and “Rabbinical and Cursive” characters, “Hebrew Numbering,” “Luxury Writing,” etc., with step-by-step instructions for completing the exercises depicted on the engraved plates. The “practical” part includes twelve calligraphic plates, engraved by F. Pirani, presenting a selection of different Hebrew scripts, including a formal square script, rabbinical and semi-cursive scripts, etc., all set in elaborate decorative frames. Also included are several charts explaining the numerical values of Hebrew letters, the names of the months and seasons, and the proper use of vowels. The approval of the rabbinate of Mantua is printed on the reverse of the title page. In recent centuries, Hebrew had been used in a rabbinical form and was not easily accessible to those with a lower level of education. Efforts to formally educate children in its structure and grammar marked a turning point in its revitalization.
Italian Union Catalogue, IT\ICCU\VIAE\037477; OCLC, 22165042.