Bidspirit auction | YITZCHAK BEN YEHOSHUA. Olath Yitzchak

YITZCHAK BEN YEHOSHUA. Olath Yitzchak [Jewish laws in the interrogatory ‘heichi timtza’ style]. FIRST EDITION. With an approbation by the Kli Yakar. Title within historiated architectural border including Priestly hands flanked by rampant lions (Yaari, Printers Marks no. 38).  ff. (14), 9-12, 21-68. Browned, stained in places, title repaired, f. 2 with marginal wear. Modern calf. 4to. Vinograd, Prague 145. Prague, n.p. 1606. An unusual novel collection of 843 riddles and problems covering all facets of Jewish law. The style is often cryptic and requires lateral thinking. Riddle no. 732, based on Ba’al HaTrumoth, asks: “If one has witnesses as to his actions, he loses - without witnesses, he wins.” Riddle no. 832, based on Reishith Chochmah, asks: “When should a scholar not be “tocho ke’baro” - his inside should not be as his outer appearance (two-faced).”   Arranged in order of Talmudic Tractates and later Codifiers, with an index of some one hundred subjects. Despite being composed over 400 years ago, the riddles remain as challenging as ever.