❧ Description
Autograph of the Hebrew grammar and the Arabic-Hebrew dictionary of Sa'adya ben Maimun ibn Danan, the last Jewish rabbi of Nasrid Granada and a pivotal figure in the transfer of Andalusian knowledge to North Africa. The manuscript comprises the Hebrew grammar, its Arabic translation (fol. 33, finalized 1473) and the Arabic-Hebrew dictionary (completed at Granada 1468). At folio 240v, the owner Shafil — a descendant of the author — inscribes a genealogy over five generations, one of the most precious Sephardic genealogical documents from before the expulsion. Sa'adya ibn Danan figures among the rabbis of Granada exiled to Oran in 1492.
Provenance: 1 Dictionary completed at Granada in 1468 2 Hebrew translation finalized 1473 3 Autograph copy completed 1480 4 Family transmission over five generations 5 Sale 1546 (Maghrebi names) 6 Bodleian Library (before 1716)
Codicological note — origin Granada, Nasrid Emirate of Granada; copyist: Sa'adya ibn Danan (autograph); script: Sephardic; leaves: 240 folios; dimensions: in-8°; early catalogues: Neubauer Catalogue 1886 · 1492; editorial status: Partial edition available.
— Source: Mémoires des Manuscrits Juifs du Moyen-Âge Maghrébin (MMJMM / Collectif GMPL), https://mmjmm.org/corpus/catalogue/bodleian-bodl-612; manuscript held at the Bodleian Library (Oxford).
