Masoret HaMasoret – Tuv Taam (Sefer HaTaamim) – Basel, 1539

Masoret HaMasoret – Tuv Taam (Sefer HaTaamim) – Basel, 1539
Masoret HaMasoret, Accentuum Hebraicorum liber unus, regarding grammar and Mesorah (study of the exact traditional text of the Bible), by R. Eliyahu the grammarian. Basel, [1539].
Printed with Tuv Taam (Sefer HaTaamim) by the same author, on cantillation marks (separate title page, dated 1539), and an additional book containing the (abridged) Latin translation of these two books with a Hebrew and Latin title page: "Sefer HaTaamim V'Sefer Masoret HaMasoret" (translated by Sebastian Münster). The Hebrew text is vocalized (apart from the title pages). The Latin translation is bound here separately.
The colophon at the end of Tuv Taam which reads: "And the work was completed… here, in the acclaimed Venice…", is a copying of the first edition's colophon, printed a year earlier in Venice.
The principal argument in these books is that the cantillation and vocalization marks were devised by the scholars of Mesorah in Tiberias, after the conclusion of the Talmud. This view was regarded critically by some leading Torah scholars (see for instance: Shem HaGedolim by the Chida, Maarechet Sefarim, Tet, 6).
R. Eliyahu Bachur-Ashkenazi (1470-1549, Otzar HaRabbanim 2069), was an Italian scholar and leading grammarian. He is named after his book "HaBachur", and authored many other compositions on grammar, including HaTishbi and the books here.
[180] leaves (22 gatherings of 8 leaves, and a gathering of 4 leaves); [5] leaves; 109 pages. 15 cm. Good condition. Stains. New bindings.