Auction 65
Lot 3:
Large volume, Mishneh Torah LeHaRambam, Section II: Hafla and Shoftim. Edition with many additions, at the press of Marco Justinian – Venice, 1551. Originally, [1], 394-767, [5] leaves. In this copy: 395-582 leaves containing Hafla
ah, Zeraim, Avodah, Korbanot, Tahara, Nezikin. In the National Library, the book appears in the Rare Book Collection.
The polemic of the printeries
In those days, two large printeries that printed Hebrew books operated in Venice, Bragadin and Justanian. Naturally, their relationship was tense and both began printing the Mishneh Torah LeHaRambam at the same time. Consequently, a dispute broke out between them, which eventually reached the Beit Din of the Rema in Krakow. Some assume that this was what led to Pope Julius III being informed that the Talmud contains hate speech against Christianity and subsequently, his order to burn its copies…
On verso the the title page (not appearing in this copy), the words of the "servant … of Marco Justinian" praising this edition, which is better than the Bragadin edition that was published at the same time. Among others, he writes that he found so many errors in the Bragadin edition that had he wanted to print them, he would have to add more than twenty leaves to the edition…
Late binding. 27X39 cm. Healthy leaves with wide margins. The first and last gatherings are with taping, moth damage, stains, signs of wear and use. Fair overall condition.
On the margins of the sheets, many glosses in ancient Sephardic script, some of them lengthy and significant with textual variations, indicating that they were written by a great Talmid Chacham. In addition, many short glosses and references. Occasionally, he added sketches for better understanding. We failed to identify the identity of the Rav, owner of the copy.
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