Arba’ah Turim [The Four Orders of the Jewish Code of Law]
AUCTION 80 |
Thursday, March 28th,
2019 at 1:00 PM
The Valmadonna Trust Library: Further Selections from the Historic Collection. * Hebrew Printing in America. * Graphic & Ceremonial Art
Lot 55
JACOB BEN ASHER
Arba’ah Turim [The Four Orders of the Jewish Code of Law]
Soncino: Solomon ben Moses Soncino, c. 1490
Est: $40,000 - $50,000
PRICE REALIZED $38,000
In 1303, Jacob ben Asher, along with his father (and teacher) Asher ben Jehiel (the Rosh), departed from Germany and resettled in Toledo, Spain. The Arba’ah Turim (also called the Tur) served as an important bridge between the two medieval centers of European Jewry and helped to inform the Sephardi Jews of the Iberian Peninsula of the opinions of the Aschkenazi rabbis of France and Germany. The superiority of the work soon led to its dissemination throughout the Diaspora. Its authority was recognized and accepted by all Jewish scholars. When R. Joseph Karo wrote his Beith Yosef, he based it on the Arba’ah Turim. This in turn was the basis for the Shulchan Aruch which ultimately took its place as the unchallenged halachic code par excellence.
This copy with extensive marginal notes mostly in an early 16th century Ashkenazic hand. The writer obviously had access to other manuscripts. (Further details available upon request).