ALMOSNINO, MOSES. Extremos y Grandezas de Constantinopla. [“The Heights and Grandeur of Constantinople”]. Translated from Ladino by Jacob Cansino

(SEPHARDIC LITERATURE)

Francisco Martinez

Madrid

1638

Only Edition. Spanish text. Initial letter richly historiated. The Benjamin Disraeli Copy, with English correspondence from 1880 discussing the provenance of this volume

Kayserling, p. 11; EJ, Vol. II, cols. 669-71 (includes facsimile of title)

"One of the rarest works of Spanish Jewish literature and an important historical source" (EJ, Vol. II, col. 670). Born in Salonika, Moses Almosnino hailed from a distinguished Jewish family originally from the Spanish town of Aragon. He was renowned for his knowledge of rabbinical matters and for his scholarship in the sciences, particularly natural physics and astronomy, he also served as Rabbi of the community of Spanish exiles in Constantinople. In 1565, he formed a delegation to petition Sultan Selim II for a confirmation of the privileges previously granted to the Salonika Jews in 1537. His efforts procured a favorable decision and in 1568 the Salonika community were granted the status of a self-governing entity, a prerogative it enjoyed for centuries thereafter. The present rare work is a description of Constantinople, published, with some rearrangement and omissions, in Spanish by Jacob Cansino of Oran (d. 1666). The peface to the book enumerates the positions held and the services rendered by the Cansinos, a distinguished North African family of royal interpreters that originated in Seville. According to Sanchez, "Esta obra se puede considerar por una de las mas raras de la lengua castellana" (Kayserling, Biblioteca Española-Portugueza-Judaica, p. 10-11).