Peirush Rash’i al Masechta Avoth [commentary to Ethics of the Father]. Attributed to Solomon ben Isaac (Rash’i).

(MISHNAH).

Italy

Late 14th century

Hebrew manuscript, written in an Italian semi-cursive hand on paper. The final page in a later hand contains Psalm 109. Signed by censor Giovanni Domenico Carretto (1618).

VARIANT EDITION OF THE COMMENTARY ON AVOTH ATTRIBUTED TO RASHI. This text varies significantly from the printed versions, and is shorter in length. For a complete analysis of this commentary and its attribution to Rashi, see A. Z. Kinstlicher, Tractate Avoth with Rashi’s Commentary [Hebrew] (Bnei Brak, 1992). The period in which this manuscript was written can be determined by the watermark on the paper (the bow/arrow), similar to Briquet 783-85 and dating to 1361. See H. Hirschfeld, Catalogue of the Hebrew Mss. of the Montefiore Library and of other Hebrew Mss. in the Jews’ College (London, 1904) no. 76. Provenance: Solomon Halberstam (shelf no. 256). Sotheby’s, Manuscripts from the Montefiore Endowment, 27th-28th October, 2004, Lot 69.