Ma’aseh Tuviah.

AUCTION 48 | Thursday, May 27th, 2010 at 1:00

Fine Judaica: Hebrew Printed Books, Manuscripts, Graphic & Ceremonial Art Featuring an Exceptional Collection of American Judaica

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Lot 68

COHN, TOBIAS.

Ma’aseh Tuviah.

FIRST EDITION. Three parts in one. Title within architectural arch. On verso, fine engraved portrait of the Author by Antonio Luciani. Anatomical plate and numerous scientific text illustrations. Italian approbation of Ecclesiastical authorities on final page. ff. (6),158. Stained in places, f. 21 torn. Contemporary calf, gilt extra, rubbed. 4to Vinograd, Venice 1572; Garrison & Morton, Medical Bibliography 6496.1; Friedenwald, The Jews and Medicine - Catalogue (1946), pp. 59-60; Rubens 693

Venice: Bragadin 1707-08

Est: $3,000 - $5,000

PRICE REALIZED $3,000

Celebrated encyclopedia of natural sciences, as well as a lexicon of pharmacological and botanical terms in Hebrew, Latin and Turkish; and most significantly, an important section on medicine (including anatomy and gynecology). Includes discussions on the medical properties of tobacco, description of the "plica polonica" (Latin for "Polish plait," a hair disease), and an examination of the Magdeburg experiment on the vacuum. Also discusses the future Redemption and the theological and social consequences of the Sabbatian debacle (see ff. 24-29). The Author, Tobias Cohn (1652-1729) was born in Metz and raised by relatives in Cracow after his father's untimely death. He studied medicine in Italy at the University of Padua and went on to serve as a Court physician in Turkey. Ma'aseh Tuviah was written in Adrianople (today Edirne). See EJ, Vol. V, cols. 692-693; JE, Vol. IV, pp. 161-162 (incl. facs. of anatomical plate from Ma'aseh Tuviah, f.106r.)