(ChID”A). Sha’ar Yoseph [commentary to Talmudic Tractate Horayoth; final 40 leaves with responsa]

AUCTION 64 | Thursday, March 19th, 2015 at 1:00

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

Back to Catalogue Download Catalogue

<Previous Lot

/352

Next Lot>

Lot 64

AZULAI, CHAIM JOSEPH DAVID.

(ChID”A). Sha’ar Yoseph [commentary to Talmudic Tractate Horayoth; final 40 leaves with responsa]

<<FIRST EDITION.>> With dedications in Spanish (floriated initial) and Portuguese. pp. 16 (mispaginated, though entirely complete), ff. 120 (ff. 81-2 reversed as issued), ff. 40. Margins of lower corners of first few leaves slightly frayed not affecting text, some staining. Modern boards. Folio. Vinograd, Livorno 72; M. Benayahu, Rabbi H.Y.D. Azulai (1959), p. 185, no. 1.

Livorno: Anton Santini 1756

Est: $800 - $1,200

The Chida’s first published work. Although aged 34 when Sha’ar Yoseph was published, it was written when the author was just 17. The lengthy approbation by the author’s father Raphael Isaac Zerahyah Azulai, as well as the introduction, both contain valuable biographical details. The peripatetic nature of the author (who was a shada”r, or rabbinic emissary dispatched to collect funds on behalf of the Jews of Eretz Israel) is reflected in the haskamoth provided from sages located in Jerusalem, Hebron, Cairo, Livorno, Amsterdam and Algiers. An incomparable bibliophile, Ch.J.D. Azulai made use in his writings of many rabbinic manuscripts that are now since lost.