Auction 105 Books | Letters and Manuscripts | Esther Scrolls and Jewish Ceremonial Art
Torah, Neviim and Ketuvim in Yiddish – Amsterdam, 1686
Opening: $400
Sold for: $2,750
Including buyer's premium
Torah, Neviim and Ketuvim, translated from Hebrew to Yiddish, based on the commentators: Targum Yonatan, Rashi, Ibn Ezra, Radak, R. Saadiah Gaon, Ralbag and others. Amsterdam: Yosef Athias, [1686].
Translated by R. Yosef son of Alexander Witzenhausen.
Two title pages. The first contains a large, elaborate engraving, the center of which is occupied by the coat of arms of the Dutch Republic, flanked by the figures of Moses and King David. Biblical scenes unfold at the top and bottom of the page.
Approbation of the rabbis of the Council of Four Lands on leaf [3], signed once at the Yaroslav (Jarosław) fair in 1677, and then again at the Lublin fair in 1678. The approbation acclaims the printer "Mr. Yosef Athias son of the martyr Avraham Athias who was burnt alive in Spain", for the excellent printing press he established, "going beyond all his predecessors to accord grandeur and glory to the Torah, with beautiful paper and ink, and by attaching crowns to the letters…".
On endpapers, handwritten inscriptions and signature.
[6], 79; 150 leaves. 32 cm. Fair-good condition. Stains, including dampstains. Light wear. Tears, including open tears to margins of title page and several other leaves, partially repaired with paper. Early leather binding, with wear and defects.
Yosef Athias presumably began printing the book around the year 1677 (the approbation from the Council of Four Lands and the ban against printing this translation for sixteen years following the printing of the book are dated 1677 and 1678). However, another translation of the Bible was printed concurrently in Amsterdam by Uri Phoebus HaLevi, in 1676-1679, leading to a dispute between the printers, each one accusing the other of copyright infringement. This dispute between the two printers is alluded to in rhyming verses in the center of the second title page, as well as in the "translator's apologia" at the beginning of the book. For further information regarding the controversy surrounding this printing, see: A.M. Habermann, Perakim BeToldot HaMadpisim HaIvriyim, pp. 300-310. These two translations are considered the first Yiddish translations of the Bible.
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