UGOLINI, BIAGIO. - Hebraist, b. in Venice ca. 1700. His life is almost entirely unknown. He was a converted Jew, who accomplished a very useful work for the knowledge of Jewish antiquities.
The Thesaurus antiquitatum sacrarum complectens selectissima clarissimorum virorum opuscula, in quibus veterum Hebraeorum mores, leges, instituta, ritus sacri et civiles illustrantur, published in Venice (1741-69), comprises 34 folio volumes. Interspersed among the treatises written by authors of slightly earlier times are rabbinic texts. Its principal merit is having collected pamphlets difficult of access in their original editions and having offered to Christians not a few rabbinic treatises with a lucid Latin translation. Among the Christian authors appear, among others, Bochart, Bonfrère, Buxtorf, Carpzov, Sigonio, Deyling, Lowth, Reland. Not a few essays are by U. himself. The first 4 volumes contain treatises of a rather general nature; the following ones treat of the geography, priesthood, Temple, rites, sects, numismatics, customs, poetry, music etc. of the Hebrews.
The excellent repertory of Jewish antiquities testifies to an extraordinary industriousness and a great interest in exegesis, even if legends or haggadic tales are often accepted and overvalued.
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Angelo Penna