Sefer ha-Shorashim (Book of Roots). Naples: [Joshua Solomon ben Israel Nathan Soncino], 1491

168 leaves (11 3/4 x 8 in.; 300 x 204 mm) including three leavesin facsimile (fols. 1,165, 168). Modern foliation in pencil. Part of a fourth leaf (f.2) in facsimile. First three quires, leaves mounted, several other leaves remargined or strengthened; elsewhere, repaired as needed; occasionally affecting a few letters or words, usually replaced in manuscript; a few leaves with early sewing repairs (e.g. ff. 45, 125); corners rounded; occasional marginalia. Lightly soiled and stained; occasional frass. Blind tooled panelled tan morocco.

Rabbi David Kimhi (1160?-1235?), also known by the acronym RaDaK, was the most prominent grammarian of the Hebrew language in the medieval period, surpassing all others in simplicity, comprehensiveness, and methodical presentation of the subject matter.  Kimhi was born in Provence after his father fled the Almohade persecutions in Spain. Both his father and brother were accomplished grammarians in their own right and Kimhi's own philological writings would owe a great deal to their early influence.

This work was originally part of a longer grammatical treatise, called Mikhlol. The first section, Helek ha-Dikduk (grammar) retained the title Mikhlol, while the second section, Helek ha-Inyan (lexicon), would become known as Sefer ha-Shorashim, a glossary of Hebrew and Aramaic words. The title derives from the layout of the text, where the root letters of individual words are printed in large bold letters followed by philological explanations and biblical citations. It was due to the popularity of both Mikhlol and Sefer ha-Shorashim that most of the works of Kimhi's predecessors fell into disuse.  Circulating in manuscripts for more than three centuries after his death, Kimhi's philological writings became the primary grammatical text for the study of Hebrew and biblical vocabulary for centuries to come.

With the advent of printing, Sefer ha-Shorashim was brought to press three times during the 15th century alone, first in Rome, and twice in Naples. As a result, Kimhi's work became readily accessible to a much broader constituency than he could have imagined and Sefer ha-Shorashim became the most-used reference tool for the study of biblical vocabulary through the 15th and 16th centuries for Jews and Christians alike.

LITERATURE:
Offenberg, Census 106; Iakerson, JTS 59 ; Goff Heb 40;  Freimann-Marx, Thesaurus A-69. Frank Ephraim Talmage, David Kimhi, the Man and the Commentaries. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1975