Rudimenta Hebraicae linguae, accurata methodo et brevitate conscripta. Eorundem rudimentorum Praxis, quae vivae vocis loco esse possit. Omnia recognita & aucta ab ipso authore Anton. Rodolpho Cevallerio eius linguae Professore. De Hebraica syntaxi canones generales, nunc primùm editi. Prefixa est epistola Hebraea doctissimi viri Ioan. Immanuelis Tremellii, qua operis totius utilitas copiose demonstratur

4to (197x150 mm). [16], 331, [1 blank] pp. Collation: *-**4 A-Rr4 Ss6. Printer's device on the title page. Roman and Hebrew types. The section De Hebraica syntaxi canones generales opens with a half title on l. Rr1r. Colophon on l. Ss6r. Contemporary stiff vellum, panels with double blind-ruled frame, four corner-pieces and a large center-piece (on the front cover it depicts a decollation with the motto “Obedientia sola verus dei cultus est 1548”; on the back panel it shows St Paul falling from his horse with the motto “Saul Saul quid me persequeris durum est tibi contra stimulum calcitrare”), spine in compartments with blind-stamped decorations and manuscript lettering piece (soiled ans slightly rubbed). Several manuscript annotations and ownership entries written by different hands at different times in Latin, French, Greek and Hebrew can be found on the front panel, endleaves and title page, including those by: Jacques Frêne de Reconvillier and Théophile Frêne (both pastors in Tavannes between the 17th and the 18th century), Albertus and J.R Fraxinus, Carolus Martellus, Christianus ad Portum (Bern, 10 June 1583), and Samuel ad Portum (Bern, 1605). Slightly uniformly browned, pale staining, especially at the beginning of the volume, all in all a good, genuine copy with some manuscript annotations and reading marks.
Third edition (first Geneva 1560, reprinted in 1567) of this very successful Hebrew grammar that was also reprinted in Freiburg/Breisgau in 1585 and 1605, Geneva in 1590 and in 1592, and Wittenberg in 1591.
Chevalier was born in Montchamps in 1507. While still young, he moved to Paris to study Hebrew under F. Vatable. Due to his Protestant religious zeal, he had to flee to England, where he completed his studies at Oxford with P. Fagius. The Duke of Somerset charged him with teaching French to Princess Elizabeth. Following the Catholic backlash after the death of Edward VI, Chevalier fled to Germany. Initially settling in Heidelberg to study under the Italian Jewish convert Immanuel Tremellius (1510-1580), in 1559 he was invited to Strasbourg to teach Hebrew. Soon after, he moved to Geneva to hold the same position. However, he then decided to return to France. The religious wars forced him to flee again, this time to England, where he was appointed professor of Hebrew at Cambridge. Despite this position and the protection he enjoyed from Queen Elisabeth, in 1570 he returned to France. After the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre, he fled to the island of Guernsey, where he died soon afterwards. Chevalier was a highly respected Hebrew scholar and was admired for his knowledge by eminent figures such as Bèze, Drusius and Scaliger (cf. E. & É. Haag, La France protestante, Paris, 1858, III, pp. 440-441).
VD16, C-2255; Adams, C-1301; index Aureliensis, 136.352.