Auction 68
Lot 132:
"Sefer Hamitzvot authored by Rabbeinu Moshe Ben Maimon and Hasagot Rabbeinu Moshe Ben Nachman, objecting to the Rambam’s list of Mitzvot". Baragadin Press – Venice, 1550. Originally, 41, [1]. This copy ends with leaf 39. In the National Library, the book appears, of course, in the Rare Book Collection.
Originally, the book was printed at the beginning of the first section of a set of Mishneh Torah that was edited and printed in that year and in that city by the Gaon Rabbi Meir Katznelboigen, one of the contemporary Gedolei Hador, and with his glosses. See the printeries polemic below.
Appearing on the margins of the sheets are references to the Parasha of the Torah where the Mitzvah appears and to his great work Mishneh Torah, where the details of the Mitzvah are described. The Rambam added an introduction of 14 "Shorashim" to his work, rules on which the list and order of the Mitzvot were based.
Quality paper. New, elegant binding. Professional restorations to many leaves, some of them affecting the text. Incomplete copy as stated. Good overall condition. (Dedication notation on leaf 30 and several ancient glosses on the margins of the sheets).
About the work:
The work was originally written in Judeo-Arabic, the language the Rambam used to write some of his important works such as Peirush Hamishnah and Moreh Nevochim. Over the years, it was translated several times. Here is the common translation of Rabbi Moshe ben Shmuel ibn Tibon of Spain, who also wrote a short foreword.
Sefer Hamitzvot was written by the Rambam after he wrote the Peirush hamishnah and before writing his monumental work – the collection of Halachot and Dinim appearing in the Torah – Mishneh Torah, which is more commonly known as the Yad Hachazakah.
Hasagot HaRamban on Sefer Hamitzvot was meant to defend the counting of the Mitzvot of the author of Halachot Gedolot. The Ramban omits 24 Mitzvot from the Rambam’s list of Mitzvot, adding others instead. Many editions of Sefer Hamitzvot were printed with Hasagot HaRamban. In response to the Ramban’s critique, the book Megillat Ester was written. The author of the famed Sefer Hachinuch based his book on the Rambam’s list, integrating the Hasagot of the Ramban where relevant.
The printeries polemic:
In those days, two large printeries operated in Venice, that of Baragadin and that of Justinian, which printed Hebrew books. Naturally, there was some tension between them, which escalated when both began printing the Mishneh Torah LeHaRambam. The matter even reached the Beit Din of the Rema in Krakow. It is believed that this conflict was one of the reasons for informing Pope Julius III that the Talmud contains hate words against Christianity and for his subsequent order to burn it…
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