Auction 23 · Lot 125

(RYBa”SH). Teshuvoth Harav [responsa]

Estimate: $1,500–$2,000
Hammer price: $2,400

Historical auction record. Hammer prices exclude buyer’s premium and taxes.

author

ISAAC B”R SHESHETH PERFET

printer

Eliezer Soncino

Place

Constantinople

Publication

1546

Description

FIRST EDITION. Title within four-part ornamental border

references

Vinograd, Const. 193; Yaari, Const. 145; Adams I-179

summary

One of the leading scholars of his day, the Ryba”sh was a disciple of R. Nissim Gerondi and a colleague of Don Hasdai Crescas. He left his native Spain in 1391 when the great massacres broke out and settled in Algiers. His Teshuvoth Harav contains five hundred and eighteen responsa, dealing with all phases of the Law. Unlike his predecessors, the Ryba”sh wrote his responsa at length, basing his decisions on specific documentation from the sources. The collection is particularly important for the social history of the Jews in 14th-century Spain and North Africa. The work was originally sold in single gatherings, it proved to be the last book printed by Soncino in Turkey

Folio. ff. 282, 10, 11,(lacking final blank). Stained and wormed in places, opening leaf of index torn and crudely repaired with loss of some text. Leaf prior to index with manuscript listing by previous owner of the books in his library (in a 17th century Sephardic hand). Final leaf contains a lengthy scholarly note pertaining to the beginning of Tractate Megillah (in a 16th century Sephardic hand). Modern cloth. Sm. folio

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