80, [4] pp., 154:90 mm., light age staining, nice margins. A good copy bound in modern cloth over boards.

 

Collected poems, on various subjects, by Ephraim (Angelo) Luzzatto. The title page describes the contents as “the offspring ילידיof the doctor, Ephraim Luzzatto,‘when the spirit of poetry rested upon him’ (cf. Numbers 11:25) ‘in the days of his youth’ (Psalms 89:46) in Italy, ‘and their father deceived them’ (cf. Genesis 31:7) ‘and cast them into another land, as it is this day’” (Deuteronomy 29:27). Elleh Benei ha-Ne’urim was brought to press by the noted poet Meir ha-Levi Letteris (c. 1800-71), who also wrote the preface. The poems, of which there are fifty five, are in a single column in square vocalized Hebrew. At the end of the book is an index, Tabula Poematum, in rabbinic letters. Luzzatto’s poems display a variety of moods: indulgent, satirical and passionate. His poems reflect individual experience, and are thus an innovation and a precursor of the Hebrew lyric poetry of the Haskalah. Highly gifted, the beauty of his style and the richness and delicacy of his vocabulary place his productions far above the average. He seems, however, to have lacked conviction and to have wavered sometimes between the extremes of religion and atheism, between Judaism and paganism.

Ephraim Luzzatto (Angelo; 1729–1792) was an Italian Hebrew poet and physician. Born in San Daniele del Friuli, he studied medicine in Padua, and after practicing at various places in Italy, was appointed, in 1763, physician in London’s Portuguese community hospital where he worked for nearly 30 years. His loose way of life in England was much criticized. He died in Lausanne returning to Italy. Elleh Benei ha-Ne’urim, his collected poems, were mostly written in Italy. They have been often republished, and influenced the poetry of M. J. Lebensohn and J. L. Gordon. They include occasional poems, moralistic poetry, and some erotica. Most important, however, are his love sonnets which have, for the period, a remarkable lyrical quality.

 

Hebrew Description

על ידי מאיר הלוי לעטעריס [עם הקדמה ממנו]...

עמ' 60, סי' מג: "השיר הזה לא נדפס בס' אלה בני הנעורים [בהוצאות הקודמות] ואחד מקרובי המחבר הוציאו לראשונה בס' בכורי העתים תקפ"ו". סי' מג שבהוצאות הראשונות נשמט.