Abudraham [Commentary to the Prayer Book]

AUCTION 26 | Monday, November 22nd, 2004 at 1:00

Exceptional Printed Books, Sixty-Five Hebrew Incunabula: The Elkan Nathan Adler-Wineman Family Collection

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Lot 57

ABUDRAHAM, DAVID BEN JOSEPH

Abudraham [Commentary to the Prayer Book]

FIRST EDITION. Double columns. On f.1v first letter “beith” richly floriated and entire page within historiated metalcut border by Alfonso de Cordoba. On ff. 23r.-24v. diagrams of the Temple altar in Jerusalem. On ff.134r.,137, 139v.-140r. calendric tables of “Moladoth.” Inserted between ff.136-7 a variant of the calendric table. Scholarly marginalia. On f.118r. portions of Aleinu prayer censored ff. (170). f.144 misbound between ff.147-8. Order of ff. 167-8 reversed. ff. 128-9; 167-17 laid to size; some text missing on f.169. Several ff. paper repaired (ff. 43v., 71, 88). Dampstained. Modern calf. Folio Vinograd, Lisbon 4; Goff 36; Goldstein 92; Offenberg 1; Steinschneider, p. 859, no. 4784, 1; Thes. B19; Wineman Cat. 57. Not in Cambridge University

Lisbon: Eliezer (Toledano) 1489

Est: $70,000 - $90,000

THE SECOND BOOK PRINTED IN LISBON. Wide-Margined Copy. COMPLETE David Abudraham composed his work on the prayer book in Seville in 1340. Unfortunately, there is a paucity of biographical data concerning the author. (The name is of interesting significance. In Arabic “darham” is both a weight and a name of currency. In Morocco, for instance, “darham” is the currency). Though utilizing earlier works of Spanish, Provencal, French, and German origins, the work abounds in original and thought-provoking interpretations of the prayers and Torah readings as well as including astronomical and calendrical tables. The section on the Passover Hagadah has been included in several collections