Sepher ha-Mispar [Treatise on Algebra]

MIZRACHI, ELIJAH

Gershom Soncino

Constantinople

1533-1534

FIRST EDITION. Title within historiated border including centaur-archer and hare. Initial letters of text within floriated vignettes

Vinograd, Const. 150; Yaari, Const. 116

Elijah Mizrachi (c.1450-1526), a native of Constantinople, was a member of the old Romaniot community that preceded the influx of exiles from Spain. In 1498 he became the foremost rabbinical authority not only in Constantinople but effectively throughout the entire Ottoman Empire. He has achieved literary fame due to his Responsa, but perhaps even more so thanks to his supercommentary on Rashi, known simply as “The Mizrachi” (Venice, 1527). It was Mizrachi's third son, Israel, who published both the supercommentary and the present mathematical treatise. Though today few recall Mizrachi's mathematical ability, in its day Sepher HaMispar was highly regarded and even translated into Latin. See EJ, Vol. XII, cols. 182-4