37 84 LEVITA, ELIJAH BACHUR. Sepher Tuv Ta’am [on cantillation points and grammatical accents]. FIRST EDITION. pp. 35. Trace stained. Bound in Valmadonna- custom blind-tooled chestnut calf, spine in compartments and titled in gilt. Housed in fitted slip-case. Sm. 4to. [Vinograd, Venice 155.] Venice, Daniel Bomberg, 1538. $1200 - $1800 ❧ Levita here puts forth the theory that the Torah’s cantillation points (“trop”) were not Sinaitic but rather of post-Talmudic origin. This novel idea, which contradicted that stated in the Talmud (see TB Nedarim 37b and commentaries) became the subject of much controversy. See EJ, Vol. XI, col. 134. The work proved to be so popular that it was immediately republished in Basle, 1539. Lot 85 Lot 84 85 LEVITA, ELIJAH BACHUR. Sepher Masoreth HaMasoreth [explication of Masoretic rules]. FIRST EDITION. Marginalia. Tipped in note by the Librarian of the Valmadonna Trust recording that the title-page here is a variant from that described by Haberman (Bomberg no. 150). Signature on title-page of R. Menachem Mendel Eckstein. pp. 1-12, 15-87. Wormed in places occasionally repaired, few stains, lower blank portion of title filled in. Bound in Valmadonna-custom blind- tooled mahogany calf, spine in compartments and titled in gilt. Sm. 4to. [Vinograd, Venice 156.] Venice, Daniel Bomberg, 1538. $1200 - $1800 86 (LITURGY) Machzor mikol HaShanah [festival prayers for the entire year]. According to Aschkenazi rite. With Kabbalistic commentaries. Complete in two parts, bound here in one volume. PART II PRINTED ENTIRELY ON BLUE PAPER. Title within architectural arch. Printed in two columns. Censors signatures at end. Occasional marginal notations. In Days of Awe “Hamelech” and “Kol Nidrei” and two additional prayers all with type-ornament surround. Some passages censored. ff. 389 (of 394), ff. 1-3 and 7-8 provided in facsimile, outer corner of f. 13 provided in manuscript, all leaves of Part I (until f. 192) neatly laid to size. Part II with occasional stains and few neat repairs, penultimate leaf with loss of few words. Bound in Valmadonna-custom deep cherry blind-tooled calf, spine in compartments and titled in gilt. Thick 4to. Housed in fitted slip-case. [Vinograd, Sabionetta 42 and Cremona 30.] Sabionetta - Cremona, Tobias Foa - Jacob Cohen of Gazolo, 1557-60. $4000 - $6000 ❧ RARE, BIBLIOPHILIC EDITION. SECOND PART PRINTED ENTIRELY ON BLUE PAPER (ff. 193-394). See Treasures of the Valmadonna Trust Library - Otzroth Ya’akov, Colored Paper no. 12. The publication of this important Aschkenazic Machzor has engendered much bibliographical discussion. Begun in Sabbioneta in 1557 in the house of Tobias Foa, it was completed in Cremona on the eve of the New Year [5]321 (1560) by Vicenzo Conti (as explained in the colophon at the end of the volume). From a typographical perspective, the Machzor is something of a mystery. Considering it was printed in two different cities, clearly the transition was hardly seamless. The great bibliographers, such as Steinschneider, Sonne, Berliner, Rivkind and Benayahu have tried to make sense of the way in which various letters occur in the edition. For a thorough study in this regard, see Benayahu, HaDephus Ha’Ivri BeCremona (1971) pp. 139-178. Lot 86