Rare copy of Old Testament in Hebrew

At Auðunarstofa, a reconstructed historic building at Hólar in Skagafjörður, north Iceland, a rare copy of the Old Testament in Hebrew can be found. The copy has various notes in the handwriting of former bishop of Hólar, Guðbrandur Þorláksson, who was bishop between 1571 until his death in 1627. 

The bible was printed in Hamburg in 1587 and published by Elias Huttero ( 1553-1605/1609), a professor of Hebrew at the University of Leipzig. Bishop Þorláksson writes on the title page that the copy is a gift from himself to the church of Hólar along with several other books which have now been lost. Director of the Old Testament studies at the University of Vienna, dr.Georg Braulik was shown the copy in 1993 by dr. Sig­urður Örn Stein­gríms­son, professor of Hebrew at the University of Iceland on a visit to Hólar and he found it remarkable that such a rare item could be found there.

"All of these old publications with the hebrew text are very rare and were only published in very few copies. The oldest ones were meant for Jewish people but then Christians began printing them. The copy at Hólar is probably one of the first printed by Christians in is very rare as such. It's in very good condition although at some point it has suffered from humidity. I suppose people didn't quite realise what a treasure this copy actually is," remarked Steingrímsson at the time to Morgunblaðið. 

The bible was stored for a long time in the attic of the Hólar church but there's a story from 1900 which tells of two women who were making a fire next to a stream near Auðunarstofa to boil their linen in. One of them explains that in the church attic there's a really old book that noone can read and it would be the perfect burning material for the fire and proceeds to fetch it. The priest from Viðvík was at Hólar church by chance, and managed to save the book from a dismal fate. He kept the bible at Viðvík and it later returned to Hólar, back to the attic until 1993 when vicar Jón Aðalsteinn Baldvinsson had a glass cabinet made for it. 

The full, and very lengthy title of the Auðunarstofa copy of the Old Testament is: Derekh ha-kodesh lo'-ya'avr­enu tame' vehu' lamo holekh derekh ve'evilim lo' yit'u. Hoc est VIA SANCTA Quam non præteri­bunt imm­undi, cum sit pro ill­is: Imò nec viator­es, nec stulti aberra­bunt. SIVE BIBLIA SACRA EL­EG­ANTI ET MAIVSCVLA CHARACTERVM FORMA, QVA ad facilem sanctæ linguæ & scripturæ in­telli­g­entiam, nouo com­pendio, primo statim intuitu, literæ Radica­les & Serui­les, Deficientes & Quiescentes: situ & col­ore discernunt­ur. Aut­hore ELIA HVTTERO. HAMBVRGI. Impressa Typ­is Eli­an­is, per Iohannem Saxo­nem. ANNO M. D. LXXXVII. Cum Gratia & Priui­leg­io Sacr: Cæs­ar. Maj­estatis.

Hólar is one of the most historical places in Iceland and was one of two bishoprics in the country. Hólar was the last remaining stronghold of Catholicism in Iceland during the Reformation. mbl.is/Rax