Kaaterskill Books

Rodriguez de Castro, Jose.

Biblioteca Española [Two Volumes].

Madrid: En la Imprenta Real de la Gazeta, 1781-1786. [34], 668, [168]; [10], 748, [1] pp., including half-titles and final errata leaf in Volume 2. Folio. 18th-century mottled sheep decorated in gilt with morocco lettering pieces, edges stained red. First edition. Sizes not uniform; some dampstaining, mainly to the edges of the first and last two dozen leaves in volume 1 and the top edge in volume 2, minor worming in blank margins, 19th-century institutional stamp on first text page in each volume; unidentified branded ownership mark on top edges, otherwise leaves quite bright. Palau 273764. Foulche Barrau 306. Ticknor p.306. Brunet I: pp.1637-38. Biblioteca de Salvá II: 2491. Heredia 8091. Kayserling: Biblioteca española-portugueza-judaica: Dictionnaire bibliographique (1890) p. 36. Cowley p. 135. Item #34463

Tomo 1. La noticia de los escritores rabinos españoles desde la epoca conocida de su literatura hasta el presente; Tomo 2. La noticia de los escritores gentiles españoles, y la de los christianos hasta fines del siglo XIII de la iglesia. An important work by Rodriguez de Castro (1739-1799) which contains much material usually not found elsewhere. Volume 1 covers Iberian Rabbinic authors writing in Spanish, Hebrew, or any other language from the 11th to 17th centuries. Volume 2 covers Spanish writers, Christian and pagan, writing in Latin or in Spanish through the 13th century. "Aunque esta orb quedo sin terminar lo publicado es interesante por extractos de codicies y por las muestras ineditas de obras de Astronomos, Cabalistas, Comentadores y Expositores, Filosofos, Gramaticos, Historiadores, Juristas, Matematicos, Medicos, Poetas, predicadores, Retoricos, Talmudistas, Teologos y traductores de judios espanoles," (Palau, Manual del librero hispano-americano, XVII, p.256). Material for an extensive supplement was collected by the author but never published. ABPC shows only two copies at auction in the last 30 years.

Price: $3,750.00