ALBONESI (Teseo Ambrogio). Introductio in chaldaicam linguã, Syriacã, atq(ue) Armenicã, & dece(m) alias linguas. Characterum differentiu(m) Alphabetan circiter quadraginta, & eoru(m)dem inuicem cõformatio. Mystica et cabalistica quãplurima scitu digna. Et descriptio ac simulachru(m) Phagoti Afranij. Pavia: Giovanni Maria Simonetta, 1539. - In-4, 208 x 153: 215 ff., (1 f. white): ivory soft calfskin, smooth spine , blue marbled edges (modern imitation binding). Adams I-957. - Brunet I, 229. - Fumagalli 293.very rare original edition. The author of this work was the Lateran Canon Regular, a humanist and specialist in oriental languages, a native of Pavia, Teseo Ambrogio Albonesi (c. 1469-c. 1540). This is his only work, begun in 1537, dedicated to his uncle Afranio, canon of Ferrara. "This book is a monument of erudition and a singular bibliographical rarity: it is said to be THE FIRST WORK OF COMPARATED EASTERN PHILOLOGY, printed with expressly melted characters" (Fumagalli). Albonesi uses no less than 38 different alphabets, including Syriac and Armenian, which are the two main languages studied, but also Arabic, Hebrew, Ethiopian, Coptic, Cyrillic, etc. and other imaginary ones taken from cabbalistic and magical writings. One part of these alphabets is printed and the other is added to the ink in spaces left for this purpose. It is in this book that we find the first description of the ancestor of the bassoon, a musical instrument invented by Afranio, the author's uncle, represented on two astonishing woodcuts in the text. The title and c booklet are printed in red and black; the title also includes a beautiful woodcut frame. This first edition was printed in two editions, the first printed on the March and the second on the April calendars. This is a copy of the second most frequently encountered print run; it appears to be identical to the first