(Rashb”a). Teshuvoth She’eloth [responsa]

Adret, Solomon ben Abraham.

Obadiah, Menasseh and Benjamin of Rome

(Rome

1469-73)

FIRST EDITION. Replete with learned marginalia (cropped) in a Sephardi hand containing references to R. Joseph Karo’s Beth Joseph. The word “meshumad” (apostate) was struck by the censor (ff. 6r., 9r., 21r., 91r.,156v.), as well as other words objectionable to the Church, such as “goy” and “nochri,” (Gentile)

Vinograd, Rome 8; Goff 45; Goldstein 6; Offenberg 55; Steinschneider, p. 2272, no. 6891-24; Thesaurus A25; Wineman Cat. 2. No copy in Cambridge University

THE SECOND HEBREW INCUNABLE PRINTED. DESPITE LOSSES, AN EXCEPTIONALLY HANDSOME COPY OF THE ONLY BOOK OF RESPONSA PRINTED IN THE 15TH CENTURY. Moses Marx notes that the font in the Responsa of the Rashb”a is somewhat larger than that used in Nachmanides’ Commentary (see Lot 4), by the same Roman printers, Obadiah, Menasseh, and Benjamin - however the capital letters and the method of printing are identical. The unusual form of the letter “teth” does not occur. See M. Marx, On the Date and Appearance of First Hebrew Printed Books” in: Alexander Marx Jubilee Volume (1950) p. 493. Solomon ben Abraham Adret of Barcelona, or Rashb”a (c.1235-c.1310), was the preeminent Spanish halachic authority of his day. His teachers were the cousins R. Jonah and R. Moses ben Nachman (Ramba”n), both of Gerona. In his capacity as supreme halachic authority, Adret felt it his solemn responsibility to safeguard Judaism from alien influences, whether it be Maimonides’ Aristotelian philosophy or the “prophetic Kabbalah” of Abraham Abulafia. Adret wrote a total of some 1,000 responsa. These contain clear replies to questions of Jewish law and belief from all parts of the globe including Portugal, Morocco, Algiers, as well as France, Germany, Bohemia, Sicily, Crete and Eretz Israel.