PINTO, JOSIAH. Nivchar MiKesef [responsa arranged in order of the four sections of Shulchan Aruch]

(ALEPPO)

Elijah Hai ben Abraham Sasson

Aleppo

1869

FIRST EDITION. Gilt tooled on front cover: “To Sir Henri Moses, Esq." Appended: 5-page biography of the author.

Yaari, Aleppo 4; Sutton, Aleppo 463

first original work to be printed on the new aleppo press of elijah hai sasson. R. Josiah Pinto (RI"F) (1565-1648), a native and prominent jurist of Damascus, is renowned for his halachic work as well as his commentary to Ein Ya'akov (Legends of the Talmud). He was the father-in-law of R. Samuel Vital, son of the great kabbalist R. Chaim Vital, a fellow Damascene. The first Hebrew books printed in Aleppo were executed at the press of Elijah Hai Sasson and his younger brother Moses Hai Sasson. Between the years 1865-73 a total of 14 Hebrew books were issued by their press. A year later they moved to Jerusalem and restarted their printing establishment. See D. Sutton, Aleppo: City of Scholars (2005) p. 291, no. 463; Yaari, HaDefuss Ha’Ivri Be’Aram Tzovah, pp. 32-4.