Sefer Chen Tov—rare and handsome. Prague 1618-1624. Complete copy.

Sefer Chen Tov—rare and handsome. Prague 1618-1624. Complete copy.

Sefer Chen Tov, drashot on the Torah with some kabbalah, by Rabbi Tuvya ben Rabbi Avraham HaLevi Ish Tzfat (see below). Second edition. 4, 356 leaves. Numbering somewhat corrupted. Long introduction from the author. The Mifal Bibliographia has the pagination as: 356 leaves (only). It is possible they did not see the first few introductory leaves.

The title page lists the year as 1618 while the colophon has 1624, which testifies to a six-year printing run. The author’s name appears with “Nr”u” (May God have mercy upon and preserve him), which implies that he was alive, but he actually died while the book was being printed. Only the National Library has copies (in the rare books section) but they are all defective in various ways. The first edition was printed in Venice in 1605; this second edition was printed about a decade later, rare evidence of the hard work that went into printing books at the time as well as the high demand for this work.

Title page is an engraved illustration, professionally repaired. Each first letter of the Chumashim is framed by an engraving. Stains an wear, some pages brown, worming damage in the margins of a group of pages, slightly affecting the text. New handsome binding, overall good condition, esp. for a book this old.

The author, Rabbi Tuvya HaLevi, was the son of the darshan Rabbi Avraham. He is considered a leader and sage of the generation following the Beit Yosef and the Arizal in Tzfat. He was the talmid muvhak of Rabbi Shlomo Sagish, whom he cites in almost every parshah of his work. In practice, this work saved his rabbi’s chiddushim from being forgotten, as the Hida mentions. Not much is known about the author since very few books appeared at the time, but he is greatly admired by those who followed him and he is cited often (and the book was reprinted relatively quickly after the first Venice edition). See Arzei HaLevanon 735.