Bidspirit auction | Tiferet Yisrael – Venice, 1599

Tiferet Yisrael – Venice, 1599 – First Edition, Published in the Lifetime of the Author, the Maharal of Prague - Tiferet Yisrael, on the virtue of Torah and mitzvot, by R. Yehuda Loew – the Maharal of Prague. Venice: Daniel Zanetti, [1599]. First edition, printed in the author's lifetime. On p. 53a, handwritten corrections contemporaneous with printing. On pp. 9a and 50a, ownership inscription in Italian script. 65 leaves. Approx. 29 cm. Fair condition. Many stains, including large dampstains, some dark. Light wear. Worming and tears to title page and several other leaves, partially repaired with paper (to verso of title page). Censorship expurgations. Old binding. Only book of the Maharal printed in his lifetime in Venice. The rest of his works were printed for the most part in his city Prague, and two were printed in Cracow. The book was published by R. Yaakov son of R. Gershon Bak (a progenitor of the Bak family), who had printed Tana Devei Eliyahu in Venice a year earlier (see previous lot), and Midrash Tanchuma in Verona in 1595. He later established a Hebrew printing press in Prague. Includes leaf 65 at end of book, which is lacking in many copies, containing addenda to leaf 49. At end of last leaf, two censors' signatures.