Yalkut Shimoni [Midrashic anthology to the Bible]. Attributed to Shimon the Preacher of Frankfurt. Part II: Nevi’im-Kethuvim (of 2).

(MIDRASH)

Don Judah Gedaliah

Salonika

1521

FIRST EDITION. Issued without a title. Marginalia in an early hand. e page. The Elkan Nathan Adler - Delmonico copy.

Vinograd, Salonika 14; Mehlman 200.

A rare complete volume from the first edition of a most celebrated text. The Yalkut is “The best known and most comprehensive Midrashic anthology covering the whole Bible… It has been published frequently but many errors have crept into it. For accurate reading one can only rely on the Salonika edition.” (EJ, Vol. XVI, cols. 707-9.) The present volume was issued five years prior to what was to become the first volume, that of the Yalkut Shimoni on Chumash, published in 1526. Although the identity of the author is shrouded in doubt, it appears clear that he compiled the Yalkut in the 13th century, as he drew from various medieval aggadic sources, as well as older Midrashim and the Talmud. Additionally, the oldest record mentioning the Yalkut is by Azariah de Rossi in 1310, implying it had been written only somewhat prior to his own generation.