“THAT FIRST AND PUREST OF LANGUAGES, THE HEBREW TONGUE”: ROBERTSON’S KEY TO THE HEBREW BIBLE, 1656
ROBERTSON, William. A Key to the Hebrew Bible… London: Printed for the Author, 1656. Thick 12mo, modern leather-textured paper boards.
Scarce first edition of Robertson’s guide to biblical Hebrew, “by which, most of the words in all the Historical Books, together with many (if not all) of the most used words, through all the Prophecies, are unlocked and opened.”
"A pedagogical revolutionary with an egalitarian message and a passionate and parenthetical style, Robertson believed that Hebrew was not an esoteric language and that almost any man, given plain and careful instruction, could learn [it] even without the aid of a teacher… He sought to simplify instructional methods and to 'take quite out of the way, those obstructing Mountains of difficultie'" (DNB). Text in English and vocalized Hebrew. Occasional mispaginations as issued, without loss; text is complete. Wing R1613. Allibone, 1824. Gift inscription dated 1903. Infrequent contemporary and later marginalia.
Text occasionally trimmed a bit close, a few times affecting letters (but not the readability) of headers; expected occasional light soiling. A near-fine copy.