Hokhmat ha-Mazalot (Kalendarium Hebraicum opera), Sebastian Münster, Basle: Johann Froben, 1527

[8], 1-200 [16] pages (7 7/8 x 5 7/8 in.; 200 x 150 mm). Text in Hebrew with Latin on facing pages, woodcut printer's device on title repeated on last page, 2 woodcut folding plates, numerous woodcut text illustrations and tables, woodcut initials, some contemporary marginalia regarding the computation of equivalent dates in the the Roman and Hebrew calendars on page 97 and on last page; many worm punctures throughout, light marginal spotting. Blue three-quarter morocco and marbled boards, red edges.

Royal Society, London (library stamp on title)

Vinograd, Basel 23; Prijs 24; Mehlman 1871

[8], 1-200 [16] pages (7 7/8 x 5 7/8 in.; 200 x 150 mm). Text in Hebrew with Latin on facing pages, woodcut printer's device on title repeated on last page, 2 woodcut folding plates, numerous woodcut text illustrations and tables, woodcut initials, some contemporary marginalia regarding the computation of equivalent dates in the the Roman and Hebrew calendars on page 97 and on last page; many worm punctures throughout, light marginal spotting. Blue three-quarter morocco and marbled boards, red edges.
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Hokhmat ha-Mazalot (Kalendarium hebraicum), a particularly lucid exposition of Jewish calendrical computations, accompanied by numerous charts and tables, was written by the Christian Hebraist scholar Sebastian Münster (1489-1552). Münster, a cosmographer, astronomer, and orientalist was, for twenty three years, professor of Hebrew at the University in Basle. From about 1525, Münster was a student of Hebrew philologist and grammarian Elijah Levita, translating and editing his grammatical works. Münster also translated a number of other Hebrew works into Latin and was a prolific author in his own right. His Jewish oeuvre, more than three-score publications, covers all aspects of Judaica, excepting Kabbalistic studies, which did not interest him. The present volume also includes the Hebrew text of Seder Olam Zuta, as well as Münster's Latin translation.