The first true grammar of Aramaic produced in France

Mercier, Jean. [Luah diqduqa kasda 'a 'o-Arama 'a]: Tabulae in Grammaticen linguae Chaldeae, quae in Syriacae dicitur. Multa interim de Rabbinico & Talmudico stilo traduntur.

Paris, Guillaume Morell, (29 Nov.) 1560.

4to. 165, (3) pp. With woodcut printer's device to title-page. Contemporary vellum.

 4.500,00

A very rare oriental grammar, unknown to Vater and Jülg: the first true grammar of Aramaic produced in France, expanded from Mercier's similarly titled "Tabulae in Chaldaeam grammaticen" published in 1550 (a slight work of a mere 18 leaves). The French oriental scholar Jean Mercier (ca. 1510-70) studied under François Vatable, whom he succeeded as professor of Hebrew at the Collège Royal. Created Lecteur du Roi in 1546, Mercier later was forced to flee to Venice because of his Protestant sympathies but returned to France and there died of the plague. "L'hébraïsant J. Mercier, auteur de la première grammaire araméenne parue en France, estime que la connaissance des langues maternelles des 'adversaires de la foi' permettra de les battre avec leurs propres armes sans leur laisser la moindre échappatoire" (S. Kessler-Mesguich, Hébraïsant-Chrétiens des XVIe et XVIIe siècles, p. 91).

Rare; USTC locates only 7 copies in libraries internationally, of which only one is in America (Houghton Library).

Lower corner of final leaf remargined; modern endpapers, using old paper. An attractive, tightly bound specimen.

Literatur

Adams M 1310. French Vernacular Books 79777. OCLC 457680439 (BnF copy). Not in Vater/Jülg.