63 77 PORTALEONE, ABRAHAM. Shiltei HaGiborim [“Shields of the Mighty”]. FIRST EDITION. Four parts in one. Three divisional titles all within a decorative typographical border. ff. (12), 186. Browned in places, dampstained. Modern blind-tooled calf. Folio. [Vinograd, Mantua 196.] Mantua, Vincenzo Gonzaga,1612. $2000 - $3000 ❧ An encyclopedic work on war, music, numismatics, weaponry, architecture - all analyzed in order to elucidate the composition of the Temple in Jerusalem. “Portaleone’s treatment is so discursive as to make the work a compendium of all branches of science known in his day, in which all of the ten languages he knew were amply used.” EJ, Vol. XIII, cols. 908-9. Abraham Portaleone (1542-1612), a successful medical practitioner, wrote Shiltei HaGiborim toward the end of his life. He explains his motivation for writing a scientific work with such a specific religious bent in his introduction, addressed to his sons (f. 2v): “The Lord has seen fit to oppress me. I have been ill-disposed for two years now… I reviewed my deeds, and I saw upon reflection that in addition to my sins, which are more numerous than the hairs of my head, I have greatly neglected the study of the Lord’s Torah, for I imbibed the Greek scholars. I aspired to pursue philosophy and medicine and …I did not study the inheritance of Jacob as is proper. For this reason, the Lord was wroth with me.” Seeking to repent, Portaleone channeled his impressive secular knowledge in order to further facilitate the understanding of Torah. This is implied in the very name of his work, which implies that secular wisdom is a shield to the mighty. 76 PESARO, AARON. Toldoth Aaron [Biblical concordance to the Talmud]. FIRST EDITION. ff. (39, lacking final blank). Browned, some staining, slight marginal worming repaired in places, final two leaves slightly shorter. Modern calf. Tall folio. [Vinograd, Freiburg 5; Prijs, Basle 141.] Freiburg, Israel Ziphroni for Ambrosius Froben,1583-84. $3000 - $5000 ❧ As announced in the publishers’ foreword, the Toldoth Aaron was prepared in order to serve as an addendum to Froben’s 1581 edition of the Meir Nathiv. However the printing took longer than expected and so the Toldoth Aaron was issued in Freiburg two years later. See Ziphroni’s cryptic colophon on the final leaf: “I will announce in the future the reason for the delay in printing: Two Jews (one residing in Prague and one in Poland) should be ashamed and disgraced for causing our failure, may God pay them back for their actions. 78 LEVITA, ELIJAH BACHUR. Opusculum Recens Hebraicum… Sepher HaTishbi [lexicon of Hebrew words in the Talmud, Midrash and Hebrew of the Middle-Ages]. FIRST EDITION. Text in Hebrew and Latin with numerous words in Yiddish and Judeo-Italian. Hebrew title page follows the Latin introduction. Latin initials historiated. Fagius’ woodcut device on last leaf. Marginalia. A WIDE-MARGINED COPY. The Helmut N. Friedlaender copy. pp. (24), 271 (i.e. 378), (5). Ex-library, lightly browned. Later calf, rubbed. 4to. [Vinograd, Isny 9.] Isny, Paulus Fagius,1541. $1000 - $1500 ❧ This work was printed simultaneously in two issues, one entirely in Hebrew and the present, Hebrew-Latin issue. This copy contains the rare page (151) discussing Christological issues that was excised from most all copies. See Heller, The Sixteenth Century Hebrew Book, p. 261.