Sifrei, exegetical midrash on Bamidbar and Devarim. Venice: Daniel Bomberg by Cornelio Adelkind, [1545]. First edition.

Fine copy, with early leather binding.

Colophon on last leaf: "The Mechilta, Sifra and Sifrei are completed… proofread and typeset by Cornelio Adelkind".

Signature on title page (in square letters): "Shlomo of Dubno".

R. Shlomo of Dubno (1739-1813), disciple of R. Shlomo of Chełm, the Mirkevet HaMishneh. Published many books, both his own and those of others. Renowned as an expert on the Biblical text, Masorah and grammar, he was asked by the Vilna Gaon to clarify the accurate Masorah of the Books of Neviim and Ketuvim – see the account by R. Pesach Finfer of Vilna (article in Beit Vaad LaChachamim, Leeds, 1902, and in his Masoret HaTorah VehaNeviim, Vilna, 1906). He was an editor of Moses Mendelssohn's commentary to Bereshit, but eventually stopped working for Mendelssohn and decided to publish Chumashim himself, which received approbations from leading rabbis of the generation (R. Shmuel Rabbi of Vilna, R. Chaim of Volozhin and R. Zelmele of Volozhin, disciples of the Vilna Gaon; as well as rabbis from Vilna, Shklow, Slutsk, the Brody Kloiz, Lviv, Berlin, Frankfurt and elsewhere). See the list of his subscribers published by R. David Kamenetzky in Yeshurun VIII-X.

Censorship expurgations.

Handwritten glosses on p. 61b.

Pesikta Zutrata, Midrash on the Torah – Vayikra, Bamidbar and Devarim. Venice: Daniel Bomberg by Cornelio Adelkind, [1546]. First edition.

Pesikta Zutrata, also known as Midrash Lekach Tov, was composed by the 11th-12th centuries scholar R. Tuviah son of Eliezer.

Colophon on last page: "The Pesikta Zutrata was completed on Erev Pesach [1546], and was printed by Cornelio Adelkind in Venice… brought to us by… R. Zerachiah son of R. Malkiel Casani of Candia". 

93 leaves. Leaves 51 and 54 appear twice. 27.5 cm. Good condition. Stains, including dampstains. Margins of last leaves repaired with paper. Creases on one leaf. Small open tear to one leaf, not affecting text. New binding.

CB, no. 7304,1.

Six Hebrew grammar books bound together. Venice: Daniel Bomberg, 1546.

1-4. Dikdukim, four books on Hebrew grammar printed together (each with a divisional title page): Mahalach Shevilei HaDaat by R. Moshe Kimchi, with the commentary of R. Eliyahu Bachur; Petach Devarai by an anonymous Sephardic author; Tzachut BeDikduk by R. Avraham ibn Ezra; Moznei Leshon HaKodesh by R. Avraham ibn Ezra.

5. Sefer HaHarkavah by R. Eliyahu Bachur. Including Pirkei Eliyahu by the same author, with a divisional title page (starting from leaf 45).

6. Marpe Lashon by R. Moshe ibn Habib.

Signature on first title page:
"Came to me from G-d, Michel son of… R. Tebele Scheuer" – R. (Yechiel) Michel Scheuer (ca. 1739-1810), Torah scholar and kabbalist, considered one of the leading yeshiva deans in Germany and a prominent rabbi of his times. He was a disciple of R. Natan Adler, and he served as yeshiva dean in Mainz where his father R. Tebele was serving as Rabbi. The young R. Moshe Sofer of Frankfurt (later known as the Chatam Sofer) studied in this yeshiva for about two years and later eulogized him as "the mentor of my youth… famous for his sharp wit, uprooting and grinding mountains; an exceptionally wise elder who studied diligently, and under whom I studied in 1776 and 1777 while he was yeshiva dean in Mainz" (Derashot Chatam Sofer 77c). From 1778-1782 he served as Rabbi of Worms, and from 1884 he served as Rabbi and yeshiva dean of Mannheim for nearly thirty years. Many leading Ashkenazi rabbis were his disciples – the introduction to the novellae of the Baal Shem of Michelstadt states that the author was a disciple of R. Michel, who taught him kabbalah.

Additional inscriptions and deleted signatures on front endpaper and first title page. Handwritten gloss to one leaf. 

Dikdukim: [4], 51, [1] blank leaf, 53-236 leaves. Sefer HaHarkavah: 83, [1] leaves. Marpe Lashon: [26] leaves. 15 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains, including dampstains. Tears to title page and small open tear, affecting text, repaired with paper. Light worming. Many handwritten inscriptions to title page of Dikdukim. Early leather binding, with clasps. Wear and damage to binding.

CB, no. 3451; Zedner, p. 574.

Kuzari, philosophical work on the principles of the Jewish faith, by R. Yehudah HaLevi, translated from Judeo-Arabic by R. Yehudah ibn Tibbon. Venice: Meir son of Yaakov Frantz, 1547. Second edition.

Second edition of Kuzari, a classic of Jewish thought and philosophy. The author,
R. Yehudah HaLevi (ca. 1075-1141), was a prominent medieval Jewish poet and philosopher. The book, originally written in Judeo-Arabic and titled "The Book of Refutation and Proof on Behalf of the Despised Religion", is best known as the Kuzari after its contents, describing a dialogue between the Kuzar (Khazar) king and a Jewish scholar. Importantly, this book grounds Jewish belief on the historicity of prophetic revelation, as opposed to other works which used intellectual arguments and proofs for faith.

The Kuzari has been acknowledged as a foundational work on Jewish thought throughout the generations, to which many thinkers are indebted. The praise for the book articulated by the Vilna Gaon is particularly well known, as recorded by his disciple R. Yisrael of Shklow: "[The Vilna Gaon] used to say to study the first book of the Kuzari, which is holy and pure, and the principles of Jewish belief and the Torah depend on it" (Tosefet Maaseh Rav, Jerusalem 1896, leaf 21).

The book was originally written in Judeo-Arabic, and has been translated into Hebrew several times. The translation in the present edition is that of R. Yehudah ibn Tibbon, which was the common translation for centuries.

On the title page is an illustration of a seven-branched menorah with knobs and flowers, the printer's mark of Meir son of Yaakov Frantz (see: A. Yaari, Diglei HaMadpisim HaIvriyim, Jerusalem 1944, no. 14, note on p. 128).

At the end of the book is a poem in praise of the book by the printer (as stated in the colophon, the concluding words of each line in the poem are a chronogram for the year of printing, 1547).

On p. 50a, signature of censor Domenico Carretto, dated 1628, and on p. 50b, signature of censor Domenico Gerosolimitano, dated 1595, and of censor Luigi da Bologna, dated 1602.

Censorship expurgations (most in ink; in several places deleted by abrasion of leaf). On p. 3a, which contains criticisms of Christianity, censorship expurgations of many lines (approx. half the page).

Over the length of the book, hundreds of glosses in Italian script, characteristic of the period of printing, by an unidentified writer. Over one hundred lengthy inscriptions, with explanations and references, as well as many glosses with emendations, sometimes conjectural. Deleted signature on title page. 

50 leaves. One blank leaf bound after title page (with handwritten inscriptions). 21 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains, including dampstains. Light wear. Worming and small tears to margins of several leaves, partially repaired with paper. Inner margin of title page repaired with paper. New binding.

CB, no. 5738,2; Zedner, p. 399; Cowley, p. 363.

Shaarei Dura, called Isur VeHeter, by R. Yitzchak of Dura. Venice: Parenzo, 1547. Second edition.

Shaarei Dura, authored in the 13th century, is one of the most important classics on Isur VeHeter, and it is cited often by the authoritative poskim, the Beit Yosef and Rama.

The first edition of the book was printed in Kraków in 1534, under the name Isur VeHeter, and it is especially rare.

Printed on p. 47a: "Up to this point was arranged by R. Yitzchak son of R. Meir of Dura; from this point on are selections [from various authors] which also relate to Isur VeHeter… which we found in old editions [Kraków, 1534]".

Signature in Italian script on title page: "Efraim Tossaio Tzarfati". Additional inscription in Italian script: "I borrowed this book when I was in Arbo [Alba?] from the admirable Chai Tossaio, I Yaakov son of R. Shimshon Bachi" (R. Yaakov son of R. Shimshon Bachi, dayan in Vercelli ca. 1630s).

64 leaves. Approx. 21 cm. Overall good condition. Stains, including dampstains. Light wear. Worming. New binding.

CB, no. 5341,2; Zedner, p. 371.