Biblia Hebraica, Secundum Ultimam Editionem Jos. Athiae, a Johanne Leusden, Denuo Recognitum, Recensita Variisque Notis Latinis Illustrata, ab Everardo Van Der Hooght. Editio Prima Americana, Sine Punctis Masorethicis.

VAN DER HOOGHT, Everardo.

$25,000.00

Item Number: 147438

Philadelphia: Printed by William Fry for Thomas Dobson, 1814.

Very rare first edition of the first Hebrew Bible published in America. Octavo, 2 volumes, bound in full contemporary calf, including half-titles and front and rear blanks, as well as scarce publisher’s notice in volume one (not found in all examples); Van der Hooght’s four leaf Preface bound in at front of second volume, morocco spine labels. In very good condition. An exceptionally clean example, most rare and desirable in contemporary binding.

“After the ‘lean’ years which followed the Revolutionary War, in the early decades of the nineteenth century America was in the throes of a great religious revival. As part of its intellectual aspect, the study of the Hebrew language was renewed… Grammars, lexicons, and chrestomathies were published, as well as books on the Bible and the Holy Land. The Jewish community was wary of these activities because the same scholars and divines were also involved in missionary activity. The appearance of a work in the Hebrew language which bore approbation from both leading Christian clergymen and leading Jews marked the beginning of friendlier intellectual discourse” (Karp, Judaic Treasures of the Library of Congress, 291-292). In 1812, Jonathan Horowitz arrived in Philadelphia from Amsterdam with a font of Hebrew type, and proposed an edition of the Hebrew Bible— the first one to be issued in the United States. Facing competition from several others who hoped to publish an edition before his, Horowitz decided early in 1813 to transfer his right to the edition to Philadelphia publisher Thomas Dobson, and to sell his type to Dobson’s printer William Fry. Dobson’s edition, printed by Fry and published in 1814, precedes all others. Without the scarce publisher’s leaf explaining the genesis of this edition— found in very few copies. According to Goldman, “the JTSA Karp copy alone contains a tipped-in leaf telling of the genesis of the edition; we do not include this leaf in our collation” (Goldman, Hebrew Printing in America 4).