alphabetum armenum (6 Ergebnisse)

HRD. Zustand: New. New Book. Shipped from UK. Established seller since 2000.

HRD. Zustand: New. New Book. Shipped from UK. Established seller since 2000.

PAP. Zustand: New. New Book. Shipped from UK. Established seller since 2000.

PAP. Zustand: New. New Book. Shipped from UK. Established seller since 2000.

First with the fine woodcut animal letters --- A lovely Armenian alphabet published by the Propaganda Fide in Rome in a bid to spread the Catholic faith to the Caucasus. The book contains three fonts of the Armenian alphabet: rotundo (erkatagir), cursivo (bolorgir) and figurato (trchnagir, or bird letters -- here in the beautiful shape of fantastic birds, fishes, and lions, in a variety of dynamic and amusing poses). The trchnagir, which originate in the Armenian illuminated manuscript tradition, are particularly well executed here in wood engraving, and were not present in the first edition, over a century and a half prior in 1623. A short section on Armenian grammar follows, as well as a number of Catholic prayers translated into Armenian, including the Lord's Prayer and Ave Maria. The philologist Giovanni Cristofano Amaduzzi (also Amaduzio, 1740-92) wrote the Latin introduction on pp. 3-12, giving a brief history of the Armenian language and script, as well as a short bibliography of the Fide's other Armenian books. This material wasn't included either in the 1623 edition. Amaduzzi was superintendent of the Propaganda Fide press in Rome and professor of Greek at the University of Rome ('La Sapienza'). He published many works for the Propaganda Fide, including Theophrastus' "Characters" and similar alphabets including the 'veterum Etruscorum' [Etruscan], 'tangutanum, sive tibetanum' [Tibetan], a 'brammhanicum sev indostanum' [Hindi/Urdu] and 'grandonico-malabaricum' [Malayam]. Provenance: Physical description:Octavo (17.8 x 11.8 cm). 32 pp. incl. title with woodcut device, pp. 18-20 with figurative woodcut initials. Contemporary block-printed wrappers in colour with floral ornaments. Condition:Minimally soiled nearspine, recased; very occasional light foxing or waterstaining, but a lovely, fresh example. Bibliography:

8vo. 8 ff. With woodcut printer's device to title page. Modern boards. Brief introduction to the Armenian language for Catholic missionaries. "The types are those cut by Grandjon in 1579, and this is therefore a late specimen of that fount" (Smitskamp). Includes a table of the alphabet and the Lord's Prayer and Ave Maria in Armenian. "The best known products of the Propaganda Press, apart from its missals, grammars, and dictionaries, are the Alphabeta" (Smitskamp 193). This is, perhaps, litte surprise, for the missionaries sent forth to all parts of the globe by the Roman see through the Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide, founded by Pope Gregory XV in 1622 for the purpose of spreading the Catholic interpretation of the Gospel, depended on language study textbooks such as these. The production of such alphabets was taken up as early as 1630 and was not discontinued until the early years of the 18th century; in 1812 the Congregation's in-house printing office was dissolved. - Slightly browned throughout. - Smitskamp 200. Graesse I, 85.