“Pitron Chalomot” – The Conduct of Life, Salonica 1544

First Book Printed in Ladino. ...

First Book Printed in Ladino.

The Conduct of Life (Libro Intitolado Regimiento de la Vira), a moral and ethical treatise in Ladino by Rabbi Moshe Almushnino (Ra”M, Sh”M), with a section on the interpretation of dreams. Printed in Salonica, 1544, by Yitzchak ben Yosef Ya’avetz. First edition.

This is the first original printed work in Ladino, the language that developed among the Sephardic exiles after the Spanish Expulsion. The work combines moral instruction, legend, practical advice, and wisdom for daily life. The text is entirely in Ladino, accompanied by an introduction and detailed indices in Hebrew.

The book is divided into three parts, as the author notes in his introduction:

Proper Conduct – guidance on eating and drinking, sleeping, going to bed and rising, walking and sitting, speaking and silence.

The Ten Moral Virtues – including courage, moderation, generosity, humility, magnanimity, love of honor, patience, joy in speech, joy in social interaction, and truthfulness.

Justice, Love, and Wisdom – discussion of righteousness, love, intellect, understanding, and practical skills.

Chapter headings and topics are recorded in Hebrew in the margins. At the end of the book is Explanation of Foreign Words, a Ladino–Hebrew glossary. Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) was the unique language of the Sephardic Jews dispersed after the Expulsion, preserving vocabulary, expressions, and idioms from pre-Expulsion Spanish, alongside Hebrew and terms from local languages such as Turkish, Arabic, Greek, and Bulgarian. Ladino was used in daily life, prayer, and Torah study. Numerous sacred texts were translated into Ladino, and original works were composed in the language. Among the most famous is the series Yalkut Me’am Lo’ez by Rabbi Yaakov Culi and his disciples. Today, Ladino speakers are few, and efforts continue to preserve the language.

Rabbi Moshe Almushnino (1515-1580) was a leading 16th-century scholar of Salonica, a Halachic authority, preacher, and philosopher, fluent in multiple languages, with knowledge of science and medicine. He authored Torat Moshe, Tefilah leMoshe, Yedei Moshe, commentaries on Ibn Ezra and Rashi, Talmudic novellae, and methodological works. According to his introduction, he composed this book at the request of his nephew, who urged him to write in the vernacular, despite his preference for Hebrew. The glossary represents the first known attempt to compile a Hebrew–Ladino lexicon, as the author noted in his work Le’maan Yerutz HaKore Bo.

162 [6] leaves. General good condition; some detached leaves at the end; staining, light worming, and reinforcements; most leaves are in very good condition. Luxurious leather binding with gold embellishments.