Bidspirit auction | AVRAHAM BEN NATHAN OF LUNEL 

AVRAHAM BEN NATHAN OF LUNEL  (HaYarchi). Sepher HaManhig. FIRST EDITION. Title within woodcut block floral border. ff. (130). Ex-library, light dampstains in places, neat marginal repairs to final two leaves with isolated words provided in facsimile. Modern blind-tooled morocco, housed in custom slip-case. Sm. 4to. Vinograd, Constantinople 110; Stefansky, Sifrei Yesod 241. Constantinople, Solomon ben Mazal-Tov, 1519. The first work on European Minhag. A record of customs, particularly concerning prayer and synagogue functions, as practiced in Provence, southern France. Its explicit purpose was to demonstrate the Halachic underpinning for every Minhag. Due to the wider circulation of Halachic decisions emanating from Spanish Rabbinic authorities, a need arose to record local communal practices and so prevent confusion. The author, R. Avraham ben Nathan of Lunel (c. 1155 - c. 1215) was a disciple of both the Ra'ava’d and the Ba’al HaIttur. A fine, wide margined copy of a significant and rare text.