Vassalli, Mikiel Anton.

Estimate

3,000 - 4,000 GBP

bidding is closed

Description

Ktyb yl Klym Malti 'mfysser byl-Latin u byt-Taljan sive liber dictionum melitensium hoc est... lexicon melitense-latino-italum... Vocabolario maltese recato nelle lingue latina e italiana. Rome: Antonio Fulgoni, 1796

4to (290 x 210mm.), contemporary marbled calf gilt, spine gilt in compartments, red morocco lettering-piece, red edges, lower joint cracking at head and foot

Provenance

library stamps on title-page with initials bmpf and cvpf

Catalogue Note

the first printed dictionary of the maltese language. Vassalli was the first professor of Maltese at the University of Malta, appointed in 1825, and prior to this he was involved in revolutionary activities in Malta against the government, for which he was sentenced to death. For this work, Vassalli devised a strict transcription system with its own typeface. He recorded not only contemporary usage but also some archaic vocabulary.

rare. One copy is recorded in Rome, one in Sweden and six in the UK (in the British Library and Oxford and Cambridge universities). Vassalli wrote at least two other works, Motti, aforismi, e proverbii maltesi (1828) and Grammatica della lingua maltese (1827), both published in Malta by Vassalli himself.