ՍԵԲԱՍՏԱՑԻ (Մխիթար) Վարդապետ [MEKHITAR SEBASTATSI]. Բառաքիրք - Lot 187

ՍԵԲԱՍՏԱՑԻ (Մխիթար) Վարդապետ [MEKHITAR SEBASTATSI]. Բառաքիրք Հայկազեան Լեզուի [Dictionary of the Armenian language]. Venice, Imprimerie Antonio Bortoli, 1749-1769. 2 vols. in-4, 22-1251 p. + [1] f., engraved title), 18-263-371-416-700 p., 1 pl., contemporary havana basane, smooth spine decorated with gilt fleurons and roulette, gilt roulette edging the boards, chased and gilt edges, (defects including upper board of 1st vol. replaced, boards and spine of vol. 2 rubbed, jaws and hinges split, leather missing from headpieces and corners of vol.1, bottom board of vol.1 repaired, engraved title page and plates of vol.1 missing). Rare first edition of this Armenian dictionary, written by Mékhitar de Sébaste and his pupils. This major work compiles the vocabulary of the Armenian translation of the Bible, as well as terms used in Armenian bibliography (relating to names, animals, plants, units of measurement, money, work, etc.). Much of the lexicon is analyzed etymologically, with in-depth scientific explanations, particularly for words borrowed from Greek, Persian and Hebrew. The second volume of this work was published twenty years after the first and after the death of Mékhitar de Sébaste, Armenian Catholic monk, scholar, theologian and founder of the Mékhitarist order, established on the island of San Lazzaro near Venice since 1717. The book was printed in the workshop of Antonio Bortoli, who at the time held a monopoly on publishing Armenian and Greek books. The second volume features an engraved title page and a copper-engraved plate. The two-column text is framed by a double fillet, and adorned with illustrated woodcut lettering. The second edition, entitled Nouveau dictionnaire de la langue arménienne, appeared in 1836.