Isaac ibn Sahula. Mashal HaKadmoni [collected fables] <<* WITH:>> Sepher HaTapu’ach [philosophy, attributed to Aristotle]

AUCTION 63 | Thursday, November 13th, 2014 at 1:00

Fine Judaica: Books, Manuscripts, Autograph Letters, Graphic and Ceremonial Art

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Lot 86

(FABLES).

Isaac ibn Sahula. Mashal HaKadmoni [collected fables] <<* WITH:>> Sepher HaTapu’ach [philosophy, attributed to Aristotle]

More than 70 imaginative and fanciful half-page woodcut illustrations. Two titles within typographic borders ff. 72, 81-100 (i.e., 98). Mispaginated (as are all copies) though complete. Light wear, neat marginal repair on final leaf. Contemporary boards, worn. Sm. 8vo. Vinograd, Frankfurt o/Oder 471.

Frankfurt o/Oder: Professor Elsner 1800

Est: $800 - $1,200

PRICE REALIZED $1,300

The Jewish Aesop’s Fables. A most distinctive Hebrew book. A collection of fables and puns with moral inferences all written in rhymed prose. The author uses animal fables as a means of moral allegory. Not only do the animals converse, but all are well-versed in the Bible and Talmud and conduct lengthy discourses on matters of science and philosophy. The remarkable illustrations are of specifically Jewish origin. “The illustrated Hebrew book par excellence.” A.J. Karp. From the Ends of the Earth: Judaic Treasures of the Library of Congress (1991) p. 125.