![Sefer HaIkarim, principles of Jewish faith, by R. Yosef Albo. Soncino: [Yisrael Natan Soncino and sons], 1485. First editio](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale106/8_1.jpg "Sefer HaIkarim by Rabbi Yosef Albo – Incunabulum – Soncino, 1485 – Com")
![Sefer HaIkarim, principles of Jewish faith, by R. Yosef Albo. Soncino: [Yisrael Natan Soncino and sons], 1485. First editio](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale106/8_2-WEB.jpg "Sefer HaIkarim by Rabbi Yosef Albo – Incunabulum – Soncino, 1485 – Com")
![Sefer HaIkarim, principles of Jewish faith, by R. Yosef Albo. Soncino: [Yisrael Natan Soncino and sons], 1485. First editio](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale106/8_3-WEB.jpg "Sefer HaIkarim by Rabbi Yosef Albo – Incunabulum – Soncino, 1485 – Com")
![Sefer HaIkarim, principles of Jewish faith, by R. Yosef Albo. Soncino: [Yisrael Natan Soncino and sons], 1485. First editio](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale106/8_4.jpg "Sefer HaIkarim by Rabbi Yosef Albo – Incunabulum – Soncino, 1485 – Com")
![Sefer HaIkarim, principles of Jewish faith, by R. Yosef Albo. Soncino: [Yisrael Natan Soncino and sons], 1485. First editio](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale106/8_5.jpg "Sefer HaIkarim by Rabbi Yosef Albo – Incunabulum – Soncino, 1485 – Com")
![Sefer HaIkarim, principles of Jewish faith, by R. Yosef Albo. Soncino: [Yisrael Natan Soncino and sons], 1485. First editio](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale106/8_6.jpg "Sefer HaIkarim by Rabbi Yosef Albo – Incunabulum – Soncino, 1485 – Com")
Auction 106 Incunabula and First Editions | Illuminated Manuscripts | Jewish Ceremonial Art
Sefer HaIkarim by Rabbi Yosef Albo – Incunabulum – Soncino, 1485 – Complete Copy of the First Edition, Including Rare Leaves Removed from Most Copies by the Censor – Wide Margins
Opening: $30,000
Sold for: $57,500
Including buyer's premium
Sefer HaIkarim, principles of Jewish faith, by R. Yosef Albo. Soncino: [Yisrael Natan Soncino and sons], 1485. First edition. Incunabulum.
First edition of a classic work of Jewish thought. Printed in Soncino, Italy, in the early years of Hebrew printing, in the famous press of the first Jewish family of printers.
The present copy also includes leaves [56]-[58] (gathering viii, leaves 2-4), omitted from most copies due to Christian censorship (see Bibliography of the Hebrew Book, entry 109905). Even in those copies in which these leaves remain, they are generally heavily censored; in the present copy, however, they are present in full without any deletions, like the rest of the pages of the book.
Printed without title page. The recto of first leaf is blank, while the printer's foreword occupies the verso: "As this important work, called Sefer HaIkarim, by the great sage R. Yosef Albo the Spaniard of Soria in Spain is of very great benefit to the people of our nation… and moreover… as it is less than seventy years since the passing of that sage, the author of this book… in order to spread its benefit… we decided to typeset it in full…". At the end of the foreword, date of commencement of printing: 22nd Cheshvan 1485, in Soncino.
Two colophons at end of book. The first gives the date of completion of printing as 21st Tevet 1485. The second colophon, by one of the print workers, concludes with the famous play on the verse from Yeshayahu (coined here): "From Zion shall go forth the Torah, and the word of G-d from Soncino".
Woodcut initial word panels at the beginning of the table of contents and of the introduction.
On blank first page, various pen trials.
Ownership inscriptions in Italian script on leaf 2: "I purchased this Ikarim from R. Yisrael Yehudah of Sermide, [El--?] son of R. Shmuel Almagia".
On last leaf of first gathering, a line mistakenly omitted from the original text is added by hand (this error is repeated in the following editions, and was first corrected, with a slightly different text, in the Lublin edition of 1597).
Other small textual corrections in margins in several places.
Complete copy. [108] leaves, including leaves [56]-[58] (viii2-4), lacking in most copies, due to Christian censorship. 28.5 cm. Fine, wide margins. Good-fair condition. Stains, including dampstains and traces of former dampness (large stains to several leaves). Tears and open tears, including small open tear to last leaf of gathering x, affecting text, partially repaired with paper filling. Worming to several leaves. Detached leaves and gatherings. Early leather and wood binding (ca. 18th century), detached, with defects, without spine.
There are typographic variations between the different copies of the book (presumably because many leaves were reset during the course of the printing), notably on leaf 1 of gathering v (leaf [31]). See: Y. Rivkind, Kiryat Sefer, II, 1925-1926, pp. 55-56 (Rivkind distinguishes between two types of copies, one of which was proofread and corrected – the present copy is of the corrected type).
For a detailed bibliographic description of the book, and the bibliographical disagreement as to which member of the Soncino family printed the book, see further: P. Tishby, Kiryat Sefer, LXIII, 1990-1991, pp. 615-621, no. 36.
The Soncino family were prominent Hebrew printers in the 15th and 16th centuries, and particularly in the incunabula period. They established their first printing press in Soncino, Italy, ca. 1483, and later wandered through various Italian cities with their printing equipment, resuming their printing operations wherever they settled. A prominent member of this family was Gershom Soncino. The family derived its name from the first town in Italy where they operated.
Reference: A.K. Offenberg, Hebrew Incunabula in Public Collections, Nieuwkoop, 1990, No. 83.