26 — HE B R E W PR I N T E D BO O K S — FR O M NO TA B L E CO L L E C T I O N S 26 ABRABANEL, DON ISAAC. Rosh Amanah [on the principles of faith]. FIRST EDITION. Initial text page with a poem by the Author’s eldest son, philosopher Judah Abrabanel (Leone Ebreo) enclosed by a metalcut, white-on-black historiated border of animals designed by the Marrano, Alfonso de Cordoba. EXTENSIVE MANUSCRIPT NOTATIONS THROUGHOUT written in Latin and Hebrew in a 16th-century hand. ff. (20). Stained, opening page trimmed and laid onto larger leaf. Modern gilt-tooled emerald crushed morocco. Sm. folio. [Vinograd, Const. 9; Mehlman 1189; S.J. Weiss, Pirkei Avot no. 4.] Constantinople, David & Samuel ibn Nahmias,1505. $5000 - $7000 ❧ Rosh Amanah [“The Pinnacle of Faith”] is Abrabanel’s most important work on philosophical-theological questions. The work is devoted to the championing of the Maimonidean Thirteen Articles of Faith against the attacks of Chasdai Crescas (Or Hashem) and Joseph Albo (Sepher Ha’Ikarim). The elaborate metal-cut border around the opening pages of this work was the first decorative border to be used in a Hebrew book. 27 ABRABANEL, DON ISAAC. Nachlath Avoth [commentary to Ethics of the Fathers, with text]. FIRST EDITION. Initial text page with a poem by the Author’s eldest son, Judah (Leone Ebreo) Abrabanel, enclosed by a metalcut, white-on-black historiated border of animals designed by the Marrano, Alfonso de Cordoba. A FINE COPY. ff. (116). Few expert marginal paper repairs, trace stained. Modern gilt-tooled emerald crushed morocco. Sm. folio. [Vinograd, Const. 12; Mehlman 124.] Constantinople, David & Samuel ibn Nahmias,1505. $5000 - $7000 ❧ Nachlath Avoth [“The Inheritance of the Fathers”] contains Abrabanel’s testimony to the merit of the suffering that was endured due to the Expulsion from Spain. Abrabanel asserts that what gives meaning to Jewish tragedy is the moral heritage that has been guarded by generations of Jews and which, Abrabanel warns, is in jeopardy due to rising materialistic tendencies post-Exile. The Nahmias Brothers, who printed this work were themselves exiles from Spain who established their press in 1505. It was the first printing-press, in any language, to operate beyond Europe’s borders. For a detailed biography of Abrabanel’s experiences and philosophical conclusions regarding the Spanish Expulsion see B. Netanyahu, Don Isaac Abravanel, Statesman & Philosopher (1968). Lot 26 Lot 27