Lisa Rudgers
Special Collections
This is Paul Courant's favorite book in the library. It is called the Polyglot Psalter, and includes translations of the Book of Psalms into Hebrew, Vulgate Latin, Greek, Arabic and Chaldean (a form of Aramaic). The library's notes on this book describe it this way: "This amazing book is a tour de force of printing skill and Renaissance openness to new ideas." For the first time, the sacred texts were opened and compared among religious traditions. Plus, I loved a little side note to the story of this book's publication: It was printed in Genoa, home of Christopher Columbus. The layout includes interpretative notes in the margins throughout, and at one textual reference the editor includes a lengthy description of the explorer's voyages -- I guess they were really proud of their hometown man of fame!
Special Collections
This is Paul Courant's favorite book in the library. It is called the Polyglot Psalter, and includes translations of the Book of Psalms into Hebrew, Vulgate Latin, Greek, Arabic and Chaldean (a form of Aramaic). The library's notes on this book describe it this way: "This amazing book is a tour de force of printing skill and Renaissance openness to new ideas." For the first time, the sacred texts were opened and compared among religious traditions. Plus, I loved a little side note to the story of this book's publication: It was printed in Genoa, home of Christopher Columbus. The layout includes interpretative notes in the margins throughout, and at one textual reference the editor includes a lengthy description of the explorer's voyages -- I guess they were really proud of their hometown man of fame!