46 111 MOSES BEN SHEM TOV DE LEON. HaNephesh HaChochmah [Kabbalistic discourses on the fate awaiting the soul after death and the mystical significance of the precepts]. Also includes commentaries by R. Moses de Leon and R. Joseph Gikatilla to the Passover Hagadah. FIRST EDITION. Title within typographical border. Signatures on title including Izaak b. Elozor-Lazi Berlin. ff. (64). Wormed and stained. Later vellum-backed boards, Valmadonna-custom gilt title on spine. 4to. [Vinograd, Basle 231.] Basle, Konrad Waldkirch, 1608. $1000 - $1500 ❧ Moses de Leon of Guadalajara (c. 1240-1305) was one of the greatest Spanish kabbalists of his day, indeed scholars have attributed to him - rather than to Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, the putative author - the composition of the Zohar. Painstaking comparisons have been made of de Leon’s other works, such as our HaNephesh HaChochmah, to ascertain whether there is overlap with the Zohar in terms of style, language and terminology, as well as to determine whether the two Kabbalistic systems are divergent or not. See G. Scholem, Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism (1967) pp. 159-204 and EJ, Vol. XII cols. 425-6. 112 MOSES OF COUCY. Sepher Mitzvoth Gadol (SeMa”G) [“The Great Book of Commandments”: Enumeration of the 613 precepts]. Second edition. Woodcut initials and incipit panels. Marginalia. Valmadonna librarian and custodian collation notes. ff. 83 (of 280). Primarily consisting of signatures 6-13 of Part I and signatures 1-5 of Part II. Stained in places, some worming, gutters repaired, occasional loss, trimmed. Valmadonna-custom morocco-backed marbled boards. Sm. folio. [Vinograd, Soncino 37; Goff Heb-85; Thes. A-48; Goldstein 58; Offenberg 95; Iakerson 36.] Soncino, Gershom Soncino, 1488. $5000 - $7000 ❧ The first book printed by Gershom Soncino. The second incunable edition of this extensive work, the first edition of which was issued in Rome, c.1469-72. Following Maimonides’ Code, the Sepher Mitzvoth Gadol is the most significant work of this Halachic genre. A major stylistic difference between the two works is that rabbinic precepts are included in the SeMa”G, while the Mishneh Torah only enumerates Biblical commandments. See Treasures of the Valmadonna Trust Library - Otzroth Ya’akov, Incunables no. 22. 113 NATHAN BEN YECHIEL OF ROME. Sepher Ha’Aruch [Talmudic dictionary]. Second edition. Title within decorative Soncino border. Wider margins. Marginalia. ff. 196. Complete but mispaginated (as in all copies). Light wear, some worming mostly repaired and generally not affecting text. Bound in Valmadonna-custom deep maroon crushed morocco, spine in compartments and titled in gilt. Folio. [Vinograd, Pesaro 44; Steinschneider, Cat. Bodl. no. 2041 (editio rarissima).] (Pesaro), Gershom Soncino, 1517. $3000 - $5000 ❧ Nathan’s Aruch is “a manifestation not only of its author’s brilliance and deep acquaintance with sources, but also of his encyclopaedic knowledge. Indeed, in some instances it is the sole source for ancient traditions of Talmudic interpretation” see S. B. Linderman, Sefer Sarid Ba’Arachin (1972) Introduction. See M.J. Heller, The Sixteenth Century Hebrew Book (2004) pp. 104-5. Lot 111 Lot 113 Lot 112