RaMBa”N). Peirush HaTorah [commentary to the Pentateuch]

MOSHE BEN NACHMAN (NACHMANIDES /

Spain(?)

15th century

Manuscript in Hebrew, written in a semi-cursive Sephardic hand, on paper.

AN ATTRACTIVE COPY OF A MOST IMPORTANT COMMENTARY TO THE TORAH almost complete (Genesis 1:29 - Deuteronomy 33:23). Although Ramban’s Commentary to Torah was published three times before the year 1500 (c.1470, 1489, 1490; see lot 72) the present manuscript was written earlier and is indeed a variant to the printed editions. Manuscript copies of the commentary are of the utmost importance, as the printed editions are rife with inaccuracies, deletions and mistakes. The period of this manuscript can be determined by the watermarks which testify that the paper was imported from Italy to Spain. It is similar to that found in Harlfinger, (Berlin 1974), ciseaux 46, dated 1464; also similar to Briquet 3675 (Venice 1471) and 3676 (Venice 1476). See C. D. Shavel’s critical edition of Nachmanides’ commentary, especially the introduction in which he bemoans the inaccuracy of the printed editions. Born in Girona, Spain, R. Moshe ben Nachman (1194-1270) is most famously renowned for his masterful commentary to the Torah, which until today remains one of the primary sources of Jewish philosophical thought.