Chapter Seventeen. Giovanni Bernardo De’ Rossi’s Dictionary Of Hebrew Authors (Dizionario Storico Degli Autori Ebrei E Delle Loro Opere)

Abstract

One of the gems of Hebrew bibliography is the Dizionario storico degli autori ebrei e delle loro opera (Dictionary of Hebrew Authors) of Giovanni Bernardo de' Rossi, a bio-bibliographical work published in Parma (1802) and encompassing the spectrum of Hebrew literature. De' Rossi's interests and studies were concentrated in three fields dealing with the Hebrew book, that is, typography and the history of the Hebrew book, bibliography, and textual variants in the Hebrew Bible. The Dizionario storico degli autori ebrei e delle loro opera resulted from de' Rossi's investigations into the Hebrew book. It is a bibliographical dictionary of just under seven hundred Hebrew authors, first printed in Parma in 1802 in two volumes. De' Rossi used a wide variety of sources, Jewish and non-Jewish, in compiling the Dictionary. Indeed, a review of the books referenced is a brief history of the early works on Hebrew bibliography.Keywords: Dictionary of Hebrew Authors; Giovanni Bernardo de' Rossi; Hebrew Bible; Hebrew bibliography; Jewish sources