Sepher ha-Roke’ach [ethics, rabbinic law and custom]

ELEAZER BEN JUDAH OF WORMS.

(Gershom Soncino)

Fano

1505

FIRST EDITION. The Moses Gaster copy with his signature on title and last leaf

Vinograd, Fano 12; Mehlman 954; Haberman, Soncino 19; not in Adams

The first Hebrew Book to be printed with a title page. Gershom Soncino was perhaps the most prolific printer of his time, producing more than one hundred Hebrew titles and as many non-Hebrew texts (under the name Hieronymus Soncino). Regarding Soncino’s years on the Adriatic coast in Fano, see M. Marx, Gershom Soncino’s Wanderyears in Italy, in HUCA Vol. XI (1936) pp. 457-59. Renowned as a Tosafist, Eleazar of Worms was the last major figure of the Chassidei Aschkenaz Movement. He was an eclectic scholar with an oeuvre ranging from halacha, piyutim, exegesis, and Kabbalah. According to legend, by exercising the esoteric conjointment of the Hebrew alphabet, R. Eleazer was transported by cloud to Spain to acquaint Nachmanides with the mysteries of the Kabbalah. See I. Zinberg, A History of Jewish Literature, vol. III, p.24. The present work is entitled “Rokeach,”because its numerical value equals the value of the Author's name