Tapuchei Zahav [“Golden Apples”: Abridgment of Elijah de Vidas’ Reishith Chochmah]
AUCTION 29 |
Monday, June 20th,
2005 at 1:00
Superior Hebrew Printed Books: Singular Selections from Two Distingushed Private Collections with American-Judaica.
Lot 42
Melli, Yechiel
Tapuchei Zahav [“Golden Apples”: Abridgment of Elijah de Vidas’ Reishith Chochmah]
Mantua: Judah Samuel 1623
Est: $2,000 - $3,000
The Mellis were a family of rabbinic scholars, whose name derives from the village of Melli in the province of Mantua. Yechiel Melli served as rabbi of Mantua in the seventeenth century. Besides the present work, he also authored a commentary to the Pentateuch entitled Sepher ha-Nimukim (Hirschfeld, Cat. Montefiore, No. 479 -11). It is thought that in addition to his rabbinic and literary activities, Melli also engaged in banking.
Tapuchei Zahav enjoyed wide popularity in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, going through several editions. This first edition was published by the author's son-in-law David ben Moses Portaleone.
See S. Simonsohn, History of the Jews in the Duchy of Mantua, pp. 30, 619, 629, 720; JE, Vol. VIII, p. 455