Ohr Amim. [“Light of the Nations” - philosophy].

SFORNO, OVADIAH.

The Company of Silk Weavers

Bologna

1537

FIRST EDITION. Initial word within decorative frame. Wide-margined copy.

Vinograd, Bologna 8.

Ovadiah Sforno of Bologna (known in Latin as Salvadeus, ca. 1470-ca. 1550) was a physician by profession. Primarily known for his commentaries to the Torah and other parts of the Bible, Sforno wrote the present volume to refute the views of Aristotle which he held to be in contradiction with many of the fundamental principles of Judaism. Sforno quotes abundantly from Muslim philosophers Ibn Rushd (Averroes) and al-Ghazali. A Latin translation of this work appeared under the title Lumen Gentium (Bologna, 1548). See R. Bonfil, Eshel, Be’er Sheva, Vol. I, pp. 208-211; EJ, Vol. XIV, cols. 1209-10. The first of only nine books printed by the Jewish Silk Weaver’s Guild of Bologna. See D. Amram, The Makers of Hebrew Books in Italy, pp. 232-35.