A unique volume from the first modern Hebrew dictionary will be offered for sale on Wednesday by the Kedem Auction House in Jerusalem. The historic book, which contains numerous handwritten notes by author Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, is expected to fetch up to 100,000 shekels ($26,000). Ben-Yehuda is the lexicographer and newspaper editor credited with being the driving force behind the revival of the Hebrew language in the modern era. He was a major figure in the establishment of the Committee of the Hebrew Language, which later became the Academy of the Hebrew Language. The volume being auctioned, published in 1908 as part of the dictionary's first edition, features numerous additions and corrections in Ben-Yehuda's hand, revealing details of the evolution of the modern Hebrew language and of Ben-Yehuda's vision for its future. It is also the first dictionary in which the entries were organized according to the Hebrew alphabet, rather than by their root words and their translations into German, French, and English. "This dictionary was nothing short of revolutionary for its day. It introduced an order of entries still practiced today," said Meron Aran, one of the owners of Kedem Auction House.
