, Brepols, 2023 Hardback, 204 pages, Size:152 x 229 mm, Illustrations:24 col., Language: English. ISBN 9780888442307.
Summary For inquisitive Christian minds in the Middle Ages, there were many reasons to learn Hebrew. The rediscovery of classical sources and Aristotelian philosophy and the engagement with Graeco-Arabic sciences that marked the renaissance of the twelfth century also brought about an acute awareness of the need for a philological understanding of the Hebrew language. In England in particular, various factors combined to encourage and facilitate the study of Hebrew texts, not only among well-known writers but also among English scholars whose names have not been preserved. They nevertheless produced bilingual Hebrew-Latin manuscripts in collaboration with Jewish scribes, along with manuals, textbooks, and reference aids to facilitate access to the sources. This volume presents an edition and analysis of one such learning tool: a thirteenth-century grammar written in Hebrew, Latin, and Anglo-Norman French (the vernacular language of the Jews of England) in a complex combination of Hebrew and Latin alphabets. TABLE OF CONTENTS Abbreviations Tables Preface Facsimile of the Longleat House Grammar Introduction Chapter 1 The Manuscript: Its Structure, Texts and Scribes The Codicological, Textual and Palaeographical Units of LH MS 21 The Codicological and Textual Composition of the Longleat House Grammar The Scribes of LH MS 21 Palaeographical Remarks Page and Text Layout Chapter 2 The Longleat House Grammar and Hebrew Scholarship at Ramsey Abbey The Longleat House Grammar Among the Bilingual Hebrew-Latin Manuscripts The Longleat House Grammar and Ramsey Abbey Chapter 3 The Longleat House Grammar and Different Linguistic Approaches to Hebrew in Medieval England Through the Latin Lens Christian Hebrew Grammar and Jewish Linguistic Traditions Chapter 4 The Edition of the Longleat House Grammar Grammar Textual Unit 1: The Hebrew Grammar in Latin Characters Grammar Textual Unit 2: The Essay on Hebrew Vowels and Accents Grammar Textual Unit 3: The Hebrew Grammar in Hebrew Characters Grammar Textual Unit 4: The Hebrew Verb Paradigms in Latin Characters Chapter 5 Contents and Sources of the Longleat House Grammar Grammar Textual Unit 1: The Hebrew Grammar in Latin Characters Grammar Textual Unit 2: The Essay on Hebrew Vowels and Accents Grammar Textual Unit 3: The Hebrew Grammar in Hebrew Characters Grammar Textual Unit 4: The Hebrew Verb Paradigms in Latin Characters Conclusions Bibliography Index of Quotations Index of Manuscripts General Index