Bullae diversorum Romanorum Pontificum incipientes a Bonifacio VIII usque ad… Paulam IIII, summa cum diligentia excerptae, et in unum redactae. * Bound at end with: Bulla S.D.N. PII diuina prouidentia Papae IIII. 1560.

<<Important Compendium of papal bullae, including several directed against the Jews, most notably the bull responsible for the Burning of the Talmud and that confining Jews to a ghetto.>> Contains all the bulls against the Jews issued by Paul III (1534-49), Julius III (1550-55), Marcellus II (April 9, 1555-May 1, 1555), and Paul IV (1555-59), including the infamous Cum nimis absurdum of 1555, in which the ghettos were instituted. The texts of the following documents regarding the Jews appear in the collection: 1) Quod Iudei, caeterisque infideles ad agnitionem catholicae fidei venienetes bona patrimonialia…Paul III, March 21st 1542 (ff. 97v.-98r). 2) Privilegia et Facultates Hebraeis concessae. Julius III, June 14th 1551 (f. 115). 3) Decretum DD. Inquisitorum hereticae pravitatis quod comburi debeant omnes Libri Thalmud Hebraeorum. Julius III, August 12th 1553 (ff. 121v.-122r.), [<<Burning of the Talmud>> ]. 4) Contra Hebraeos retinentes libros in quibus alquid contra fidem catholicam notetur, vel scribatur. Julius III, May 29th 1554 (f. 122). 5) De Prorogatione Subsidii…Vigesimarum Hebraeorum ad Triennium. Marcellus II, April 14th 1555 (f.125v.-126v). 6) De solutione singulis Sinagogis, etiam demolitis, vel ad unam redactis, vel redigendis imposita, & per Hebraeos Archiconfraternitati Cathecu minorum facienda. Paul IV, March 23rd 1555 (Part II, ff.1r.-2r). 7) Bulla contra Iudaeos aedita…Cum nimis absurdum… Paul IV, July 12th 1555 (Part II, f.8). [Establishing the Ghetto of Rome, prohibiting more than one synagogue in a town, forbidding contact between Jews and Christians, and imposing on Jews distinctive clothing]. 8) Bando sopra gli Hebrei, de l’ordine che hanno da tenere. Paul IV, July 24th 1555 (Part II, ff. 8v.-9r). It was during the Counter-Reformation in Italy in the middle of the 16th century that the Church’s centuries-long series of attacks on the Talmud had the most far-reaching consequences. In this reactionary climate, a quarrel broke out between rival Christian printers of Hebrew books in Venice. One of them, with the connivance of certain apostates, denounced the works produced by his competitor as containing matter offensive to the Catholic Church. This developed into a wholesale attack on Hebrew literature. After a council of cardinals had examined the matter, the pope issued a decree (August 1553) designating the Talmud and related works as blasphemous and condemning them to be burned. On September 9th, 1553, the Jewish New Year, a huge pyre was set up in Rome’s Campo de’ Fiori, containing Hebrew books that had been seized from Jewish homes. Subsequently the Inquisition ordered all rulers, bishops, and inquisitors throughout Italy to take similar action. Throughout the remainder of the 16th-century, a complete edition of the Talmud could not be found anywhere in Italy. See Yeshiva University Museum Catalogue, Printing the Talmud: From Bomberg to Schottenstein (2005) p. 228. For another copy of this compendium of Papal Bulls, see Kestenbaum & Company, Sale 28, lot 289.