Sepher Machberoth Immanuel [poetry]

IMMANUEL BEN SOLOMON OF ROME

Eliezer ben Gershom Soncino

Constantinople

1535

Second edition. Title within woodcut architectural border

Vinograd, Const. 153; Yaari, Const. 119; Adams I-53

Immanuel of Rome (c.1261-1368), a contemporary of Dante’s, known in Italian as Manoello Giudeo, modeled his literary work on the classic Sephardic poets - Solomon ibn Gabirol, Judah Halevi and Judah Al-Harizi. However, he also displayed a significant Italian influence. His famous vision of Heaven and Hell, influenced by Dante’s work, is contained in the final section. Due to certain lewd sections, R. Joseph Karo forbade the reading of Sepher Machberoth and consequently, a subsequent edition was only published 200 years later. See Carmilly-Weinberger, pp.214-7. According to Cecil Roth, Immanuel of Rome was “the most remarkable and the most important figure of the Renaissance period in the Jewish world.” See C. Roth, The Jews in the Renaissance (1959) pp. 89-103