Responsa Tashbetz – Amsterdam, 1738-1739 – Fine Copy in Original Decorated "Fish Skin" Binding – Copy with ...

Responsa Tashbetz – Amsterdam, 1738-1739 – Fine Copy in Original Decorated "Fish Skin" Binding – Copy with Signatures of R. Naphtali Katznelbogen (Son-in-Law of the Shav Yaakov) and R. Yaakov Posen of the Frankfurt Beit Din in the Time of the "Hafla'ah"

Responsa Tashbetz, three parts, by Rabbi Shimon ben Tzemach Duran. With the Responsa Chut HaMeshulash, by the author's grandchildren. Amsterdam: Naftali Hertz Levi Press, [1738-1739]. First edition. With seven title pages.
It is said about the author, Rabbi Shimon ben Tzemach Duran, that he was fortunate to have his book printed in a beautiful edition and bound in beautiful and ornate bindings – "because he was careful to spread a beautiful, fine, and important cloth over the books that were open before him to study from" (Rabbi Yitzchak Palagi, Yafeh LaLev, III, Yoreh De'ah, Siman 277, Section 3). Other legends relate that he Rashbatz greatly respected his books and cleaned them every day with a silk cloth (see: S.Y. Agnon, Sefer Sofer VeSippur, p. 152, based on the story of R. Eliezerov, in the name of the Tzemach Tzedek of Lubavitch; N. Ben Menachem, Gvilei Sefarim, pp. 11-12, based on the story of R. Zevin, in the name of the Rashab).
The present copy is bound in an original and special parchment binding, with artistic gilt embossing of the figure of Moses descending from the mountain with the Tablets of the Covenant in one hand and the staff in his right hand (on the front cover), and the figure of Abraham raising the knife to slaughter his son Isaac and an angel preventing him (on the back cover).
Interestingly, all the copies with the original bindings were made at the time by artistic handwork, with beautiful decorations and embossings, and no two copies are identical. Most of the original bindings were made of fine parchment, or a combination of leather and parchment (which some book collectors named "fish skin" bindings).

Important copy which belonged to several rabbis of Germany in the 18th century. On the front flyleaf are erased ownership inscriptions, including the inscription: "…Naphtali Hirsch… Katznelbogen."

R. Naphtali Hirsch Katznelbogen, Rabbi of the state of Pforzheim and head of the "Kloiz" in Mannheim (d. 1800), one of the greatest of his generation in Ashkenaz. Son of rabbi Moshe Katznelbogen, Rabbi of the state of Schwabach, and son-in-law of R. Yaakov Cohen Poppers, author of the "Shav Yaakov." He served as the rabbi of Mergentheim and in 1763 was appointed as the Rabbi of the state of Palatinate. He was one of the leading rabbis who supported rabbi Israel Lipschitz in the case of the "Get of Cleves". He moved to Mannheim and taught Torah in the Kloiz there for over thirty years, until his death in 1800. His nephew is Rabbi Naphtali Hirsch Katznelbogen, author of "Sha'ar Naphtali".
Ownership inscriptions on the first two title pages of the dayan Rabbi Yaakov Posen from Frankfurt am Main; In the center of the first title page appears another signature, by "Nataniel Bonn[?]."

Rabbi Yaakov Posen (1772-1849), dayan in Frankfurt am Main, who served in the court of the author of the "Haflaah" and his son, the author of "Machane Levi". His father, Rabbi Yekutiel Zalman Posen, was Rabbi of Offenbach, Fulda, and Friedberg (c. 1720-1793; in his youth, he moved from Posen to Germany to study with the "Shav Yaakov" and the "Pnei Yehoshua"). At the funeral of rabbi Yaakov Posen, the community committee of Frankfurt intervened and refused to allow the rabbis who fought against reform to eulogize him in the cemetery. As a result, the independent Orthodox community of rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch was established in the city. His son was Rabbi Eliezer Posen, rabbi of the Kloiz community in Frankfurt am Main (1803-1866), and his grandson was rabbi Gershon Posen, who served as a dayan in Frankfurt for some fifty years.

[12], 91; [1], 69; [1], 68; [1], 36; [2], 39-83; [1], 85-101, [1] leaves. Missing [1] final leaf from the second part, without the list of books by the author of the Tashbetz. 31.5 cm. Overall condition good. Stains. Worming in several places. Original, luxurious parchment binding, decorated with beautiful, colorful, gilt decorations, in artisanal work. Worming and defects to binding.
Several variants of this edition are known, differing in the number of title pages. Copies are known with only four title pages, or with seven and even eight title pages (see: Bibliography of the Hebrew Book, and see: Dan and Gita Yardeni, The "Tashbez" by R. Shimon b. Zemah Duran; Amsterdam, 1739-1742 (Hebrew), Alei Sefer, X, 1982, pp. 119-132).
The present copy includes seven title pages, two title pages for the first part (both dated 1738), one title page for the second part, one title page for the third part, and three title pages for the three "Turim" of the fourth part.

PLEASE NOTE: Some lot descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to the Hebrew text.