Bidspirit auction | Discovery in the Printing of

Discovery in the Printing of the Talmud – Rare Gemara Leaves from an Unknown Printing Press of Salonika - A special bibliographic discovery in the field of the printing of the Talmud. [7] leaves. Babylonian Talmud. Unknown edition (?) Salonika, [1610-20]. [2] leaves of the Gittin Tractate. [3] leaves of the Baba Metziah Tractate. [2] leaves of the Baba Kama Tractate. About the printing in Salonika during the above-mentioned years, see: Mehlman Gnuzot Sefarim, Jerusalem 1977, p 43 and onwards. And: Ginzei Yisrael, Yudlov, Yitzchak ”Dr. Yitzchak Mehlman Collection” no. 150 and 153. These sources refer to leaves of the Ketubot, Gittin and Berachot Tractates. The Berachot and Gittin tractates there are dated to the years [1580]-[1585]. Of the Azoviv Press. An additional Ketubot Tractae is dated to circa 1610-1620. The Baba Metziah Tractate is not mentioned! The listings of Winograd and Rosenfeld as well, no. 61122 and 61123, refer to 3 tractates: Berachot, Gittin and Ketubot, from these years. What was listed, was listed from segments of leaves, of [2] or a little more leaves. However, Prof. Elazar Horowitz in his book ”Mahadurot Masechet Baba Kama M'Dfusei Saloniki” (The Editions of the Baba Kama Tractate of the Salonika Presses), New York 1986 (an edition of 120 copies only) presents a precise and interesting description of a copy of the Talmud the Baba Kama Tractate from Salonika which had belonged to Rabbi Y. Levi of Montreal and on which appears the handwritten signature of the printer Yosef Yavetz, (with a facsimile of the title page and his signature). Prof. Horowitz did a good job and presented facsimiles, single in the world, of leaves of tractates that were bound in the printer's copy, which were most likely bound from other unknown tractates of the Salonika presses. Most of the leaves before us are identical to those that were printed in Salonika during the years 1610-1620. Of course, of different layouts which do not appear in libraries in the world and are defined ”Unknown edition” and which even Prof. Horowitz had not seen! A facsimile of the last leaf of Baba Metziah, which was found in ”The Exposure of the Yemen Archives”, is identical to the leaves of the Baba Metziah Tractate before us and which are unknown! Leaves of the Babylonian Talmud printed in Salonika during these years have never been seen in auctions!