Beith Midoth

AUCTION 41 | Thursday, September 18th, 2008 at 1:00

Fine Judaica: Printed Books, Manuscripts, & Graphic Art

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Lot 50

ANAV, YECHIEL BEN YEKUTHIEL.

Beith Midoth

FIRST EDITION ff. 71 (of 72), First leaf containing title and editor's introduction provided in facsimile. Leaves have been numbered in an old hand with two different leaves numbered 28. Scattered marginal notes in a 17th-century semi-cursive hand, plus a later Ashkenazic hand. Various owners signatures and stamps, including Mordechai Meir Aaronsohn dated Bialystok, 1881 and Baruch Friedenberg also of Bialystok (see below). Marginal edges of first few leaves slightly frayed not affecting text, some staining, repair on few leaves. Ex-library. Modern morocco. 4to Vinograd Const. 32; Yaari, Const. 13, Mehlman 976

[Constantinople]: S. Rikomin and Astruc de Toulon [1511]

Est: $5,000 - $7,000

Anav’s Beith Midoth is renowned for its ethical insights and enumeration of the twenty-four steps necessary for character development. Such Rabbinic luminaries as R. Yaakov Emden highly regarded the work - evident from the fact that he included entire chapters of it in his own Migdal Oz. Beith Midoth was particularly venerated by the adherents of the Mussar movement of Novardok and was republished many times. It should be noted that this first edition contains many important textual variants from the later editions. It also contains an introduction and a number of poems by the editor, Joseph Bibas which were not published in later editions. In subsequent editions, the name of of the work was altered to Ma’aloth Ha-midoth. (See the article by S.H. Kook, Iyunim U-Mechkarim, vol. II, pp. 268-9). The previous owner of this volume, Baruch Friedenberg, was a well known industrialist, scholar and leader of the Chovevei Zion Movement. In his youth he was the study partner of R. Meir Simcha Ha-Kohen, Rabbi of Dvinsk (the author of Ohr Sameach)