Midbar Yehudah, sermons for the festivals, weddings, circumcisions, bar mitzvahs, eulogies and more, by R. Yehudah Aryeh of Modena. Venice: Daniel Zanetti, 1602. First edition.

On verso of title page, poem by R. Shmuel Archivolti, teacher of the author, praising the book and its author, and a poem of friendship by R. Azariah Figo.

On last page, "prayer to cleanse the proofreader of errors, to the reader", by the proofreader R. Nisim Shushan.

On front endpaper, ownership inscriptions: "Moshe Yehudah Belgrado"; "Av[raham] Mo[she] Belgradi".

The signatures appear to belong to R. Moshe [son of] Yehudah Belgrado, a friend of the author, R. Yehudah Aryeh, and his son – R. Avraham [son of] Moshe Belgrado – a disciple of R. Yehudah Aryeh, and recipient of his ordination as Chaver. R. Yehudah Aryeh was a friend of the family (see preface to Responsa Ziknei Yehudah, Simonson edition, Jerusalem 1956, p. 35), and he was likely the one who gave the book as a gift to R. Moshe Belgrado.

Several glosses, corrections and added punctuation in text and margins. Several censorship expurgations (with handwritten replacement of text on one leaf).

104 leaves. Leaves 2-3, 5-12 appear twice. 18 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains, including dampstains. Worming and tears to several leaves. Leather binding, damaged.

On last leaf, signature of censor Girolamo da Durazzano, dated 1640.

CB, no. 5745,17; Zedner, p. 428; Roest, p. 666.