Rabbi Davidis Kimhhi Commentarii In Psalmos Davidis Regis et Prophetae. Ex Hebraeo Latine Redditi A Domno Ambrosio Ianvier Congregationis S. Mauri Monacho Benedictino. Parisiis: Lud. Billaine, 1666, 4to.
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An important Maurist edition of the commentaries on the Psalms by David Kimhi, one of the most influential medieval Jewish exegetes, here translated from Hebrew into Latin by Ambroise Janvier, a Benedictine monk of the Congregation of Saint Maur. This work forms part of the broader seventeenth-century movement of Christian Hebraism, in which Catholic scholars engaged directly with Hebrew sources and rabbinic authorities to refine biblical philology and exegesis. Kimhi’s commentary, very much praised for its linguistic precision and relatively rational approach, was particularly valued by early modern scholars seeking a clearer understanding of the Hebrew text of the Psalms.
This copy is of particular interest as a Maurist example of a Maurist work, preserved in a contemporary monastic binding and bearing the ownership inscription of the Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Wandrille, itself a house of the Congregation. As such, it represents the work in its original scholarly milieu, held and used within the same intellectual network that produced it.
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Provenance:
From the library of the Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Wandrille (Congregation of Saint Maur), with manuscript inscription to title recording its entry in the monastic catalogue. The Maurist provenance is of particular significance, the Congregation being renowned for its exceptional standards of scholarship, especially in biblical and philological studies. They were the most intellectually rigorous monastic order in early modern Europe
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Size: 194 x 246 mm (approx.)
Condition:
[a3, e4, i4, A-Z4, Aa-Zz4, Aaa-Zzz4, AAaa-PPpp4, (1)]
Collates as complete. The first gathering contains three leaves as called for, four are not called for, total preliminary count of 22pp. as per WorldCat. A few small marginal worm tracks in places, not losing legibility of text. Ll3 torn without loss, a few other small closed tears in places. Intermittent toning, but generally clean throughout the text block. No attached bookplates. Inscription across title page, else free of marginalia.
Contemporary monastic full calf, repeating gilt to spine, gilt device to both boards. Binding rubbed, some losses to backstrip, shelf and edge wear. Joints cracked, but with both boards securely attached, the binding is secure. Sewn tailcap loose but present.
RARE. WorldCat records 11 institutional copies extant, not in USTC.
[USTC 222745637]
