Azariah de' Rossi. The Light of the Eyes. Translated with introduction and annotations by Joanna Weinberg. Yale Judaica Series. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001. xlix, 802 pp.

Abstract

The central dimension of Azariah de' Rossi's complex and diverse treatise, Meءor עeinayim, is undoubtedly what Joanna Weinberg describes as “his real contribution to critical scholarship” (p. xxix), and this is especially evident in his innovative chapters on Philo, rabbinic aggadah and Jewish chronology. De' Rossi's studies are compounded by ponderous Hebrew prose replete with citations, proof-texts, references, and allusions. Nevertheless, Weinberg skillfully makes this classic manageable in English. Her abundant notes clarify the classical Jewish texts he addressed and the innumerable Jewish and non-Jewish sources from antiquity to the sixteenth century integral to his scholarly endeavor. The translation is also complemented by a comprehensive index of sources.