Bidspirit auction | Sefer Yosifon. Vengrov [Węgrów], [1794]

Sefer Yosifon. Vengrov [Węgrów], [1794] - A book of a very rare printery that has never been auctioned. Yosifon is a work that reviews Jewish history in the period of the Second Temple to the First Jewish–Roman War. Scholars believe the book was authored or edited in ca. 953 A.D. in Southern Italy and it is an adaptation of the Latin translations of the writings of Yosef ben Matityahu (in Greek: Josephus), known as pseudo-Hegesippus (deriving from a typo identifying Josephus with Hegesippus, one of the early Historians of the Church to whom the mistake is attributed) and a compilation of additional sources. The anonymous author notes that he is copying from the works of Yosef ben Matityahu, which he refers to by mistake as Yosef ben Gurion. In later manuscripts, the author's words were distorted and the work was attributed to Yosef ben Gurion himself (a leader who indeed appears in the history of the First Jewish-Roman War). Consequently, the author was identified with the Tana Rabbi Yossi Hacohen. In addition to the Hebrew translation, during the edition of Sefer Yosifon, efforts were made to match Yosef ben Matityahu's words with those of the Sages. In 1794, Master Kruger, who owned printeries in Novi Dvor and Koretz, opened, as an experiment, a branch of his printeries in Vengrov, Shedlitz district. 4 books only were printed by this printing house; this is one of them! [See: Friedberg, Toldot Hadfus HaIvri Bepolani; Vinograd, Otzar Hasefer HaIvri]. Vengrov (Węgrów) is a town in the Mazovia Provence of Poland which had, until the Holocaust, a large Jewish community. Vengrov (Węgrów), [1794]. 1-29, 29-101, 103-107, 109-128, 128-189, 191-199 leaves. 13.5 cm. Good condition. Some moth perforations. Aging stains, mainly on the last leaves. A book of a very rare printery that has never been auctioned.