9 Lot 15 Lot 16 Lot 18 Lot 17 15 BACHIAH BEN ASHER. Biur al HaTorah [commentary to the Torah] Title within architectural arch. Title of each of the Five Books within an elaborate woodcut border incorporating the elephant-and-castle printer’s mark of Cavalli (Yaari, Printer’s Marks 33). ff. 251. Stained in places, opening few leaves neatly remargined, signatures on title. Bound in Valmadonna-custom mahogany calf inlaid in blind and gilt. Folio. [Vinograd, Venice 514.] Venice, Giorgio di Cavalli, 1566. $1000 - $1500 ❧ Bachiah ben Asher ben Chalawa (13th-century), Dayan of Saragossa, was a Kabbalist of the school of R. Solomon ibn Adret of Barcelona (the Rashb”a). His Commentary is one of the most influential encyclopedic works on the Torah. Utilizing a wide variety of sources, noteworthy are his Kabbalistic references, Midrashic interpretations as well as citations from lost Midrashim. The immense popularity of Rabbeinu Bachiah’s work is attested to by the dozen or so super-commentaries that have been written upon it. 16 BACHIAH BEN ASHER. Shulchan (shel) Arba [on proper conduct at table, benedictions, the Banquet in the World to Come and resurrection of the dead]. Third edition. Printer’s device on title (Yaari, Hebrew Printer’s Marks 16). Censor’s signature at end (dated 1601), with his ink deletions in places. ff. 11. Touch stained. Bound in Valmadonna-custom chestnut morocco, spine in compartments, titled on spine in gilt. Housed in fitted slip-case. Folio. [Vinograd, Venice 296.] Venice, Cornelio Adelkind for Marco Antonio Giustiniani, 1545. $700 - $900 ❧ Extensive research into Rabbeinu Bachiah’s rabbinic approach and thought was undertaken by Ephraim Gottlieb: The Kabbalah in the Writings of R. Bahya ben Asher (Jerusalem, 1970). 17 BACHIAH BEN ASHER. Kad HaKemach [philosophy]. Second edition. Title within garlanded architectural arch and featuring printer’s device of Giustiniani (see Yaari, Hebrew Printers’ Marks 16). Opening words within magnificent engraved surround. ff. 83. Stained in places (especially ff. 76-7). Bound in Valmadonna- custom chestnut blind-tooled morocco, spine in compartments, titled on spine in gilt. Housed in fitted slip-case. Folio. [Vinograd, Venice 268.] Venice, Cornelio Adelkind for Marco Antonio Giustiniani, 1546. $1000 - $1500 ❧ Arranged alphabetically, Kad HaKemach is a virtual encyclopedia of ethics replete with homiletic interpretations of Biblical verses and Aggadic passages. See M. Waxman, Jewish Literature, Vol. II pp. 275-6; EJ, Vol. IV, cols. 104-5. 18 BACHIAH BEN JOSEPH IBN PAQUDA. Chovoth HaLevavoth. Translated by Judah ibn Tibbon. Title set within architectural arch. Opening and rear blanks with lengthy manuscript entries comprising extracts from the Zohar and Talmud. ff. 103. Few light stains. Bound in Valmadonna-custom chestnut blind-tooled calf, titled in gilt on spine. Sm. 4to. [Vinograd, Mantua 62.] Mantua, n.p., 1559. $1200 - $1800 ❧ An attractive copy of this classic work, with new corrections plus seven leaves of indices to Bible and Talmud. Throughout the ages, Chovoth HaLevavoth enjoyed wide popularity in a variety of circles, although in later centuries Eastern European Jews would shy away from the introductory Sha’ar HaYichud, which is of a decidedly philosophical nature, and instead focus on the remainder of the work, centered upon ethical guidance.