Bidspirit auction | BENJAMIN BEN MATTITHIAH (OF ARTA).

BENJAMIN BEN MATTITHIAH (OF ARTA). Sepher Binyamin Z'ev [responsa]. FIRST EDITION. ff. 367, (2), 376-399, 399-575. Few neat paper repairs, otherwise a fine copy. Inscriptions on title, marginal note on f. 456. Modern morocco. Thick 4to. Vinograd, Venice 167; Mehlman 702. Venice, Daniel Bomberg, 1539. Of a somewhat disputatious nature, the author issued this mammoth collection of 450 legal decisions largely as self-justification following a tendentious Halachic feud with R. David HaKohen of Corfu concerning Agunoth. Despite the distinctly independent tone in its rulings, the work was often cited by R. Moshe Isserles (the ReM’A), thus assuring its place of permanence in the annals of Halacha. A collection of response of importance, due to insight concerning the social conditions and religious life of the Jews in Asia Minor. See M. Benayahu, Prolegomenon to the Responsa Benjamin Ze’ev (1989); and M. Carmilly-Weinberger, Censorship and Freedom of Expression in Jewish History (1977) pp. 155-56.