MIDRASH TEHILIM.

AUCTION 25 | Monday, October 25th, 2004 at 1:00

Important Hebrew Printed Books: The Property of a Gentleman

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Lot 37

MIDRASH TEHILIM.

Anonymous. Supplement to Midrash Tehilim, from Psalm 119 through Psalm 150. (Our edition supplements the Constantinople edition of 1512 which concludes at Psalm 118). << * With:>> HA’YITZHARI, MATTATHIAS. Peirush Ha’Alpha Beta [Commentary to Psalm 119] (ff. -24). ff. (24). Minimally stained. Modern boards. Slim folio Vinograd, Salonica 5; Mehlman 174; St. Cat. Bodl. col. 595 no. 3789

(Salonika): n.p. (1515)

Est: $20,000 - $25,000

PRICE REALIZED $24,000

Mehlman expresses doubt whether the actual printing was done in Salonika and not in Fez, Morocco. He writes that the letters resemble those of R. Eliezer Toledano as used in the printing of Abudraham in Fez in 1517. The Midrash Tehilim was most likely composed towards the end of the 10th-century, probably in Southern Italy. It is chiefly a compilation of sayings relating to the verses of the Psalms scattered throughout the Agadah, but also contains some original material. The text of the Midrash is followed by R. Mattathias HaYitzhari’s commentary to the 119th Psalm, Peirush ha-Alpha Beta. The Author, (Spain, 14th-15th century), was descended from the Narbonne family who emigrated to Aragon after the expulsion from France in 1306. This is the only work of this Spanish philosopher to be published. He left in manuscript a commentary to the Ethics of the Fathers. See EJ, Vol.XI, cols. 1129-30