Bidspirit auction | Among the earliest Yiddish translations

Among the earliest Yiddish translations of the Tanach! Tanach with Yiddish translation. Amsterdam, 1687. A rare and handsome exampler, with an illustrated and ornate title page. - Torah, Prophets and Writings, ”translated from Lashon Kodesh and written in Ashkenazic (Yiddish)”, a Yiddish translation of the Tanach based on the commentaries: Targum Yonatan, Rashi, Ibn Ezra, Radak, Saadia Gaon, Ralbag, and others. Printed by Yosef Atias. Amsterdam, 1686 [Tav Mem Zayin]. On the involvement of the author of Siftei Chachamim in the translation of this Sefer, see the printer Yosef Atias’s introduction. With approbations from the Council of the Four Countries in Jarosław and Lublin, signed at the fair (”Yoma d’Shuka”) in Jarosław in 1677 [Tav Lamed Zayin], and the second in Lublin in 1678 [Tav Lamed Chet]. The approbations praise the printer ”R. Yosef Atias, son of the holy Avraham Atias HY”D, who was burned alive in Spain, ” for establishing an excellent press, ”surpassing all those before him to magnify and glorify the Torah with beautiful paper and ink and adding crowns to the letters...” Includes two title pages and introductory leaves in Latin and Portuguese. The first title page is ornate, with magnificent copper engravings featuring the emblem of the Dutch Republic in the center, surrounded by scenes of Moshe and Aaron, the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, and the meeting of Yaakov and Yosef. It appears that R. Yosef Atias began printing this Sefer around 1677 (as evident from the approbations from that year and the 16-year printing ban mentioned therein). At the same time, however, a competing Yiddish translation of the Tanach was printed in Amsterdam by the printer Uri Veibesh Halevi (1676–1679), leading to a dispute between the printers, with each accusing the other of infringement. This dispute is referenced in the Yiddish rhymed text printed in the center of the second title page. (More on this controversy: A. M. Habermann, Chapters in the History of Hebrew Printing, pp. 300–310). [6], 79, 150 leaves. Luxurious new half-leather binding. Light reinforcement to first title page. Excellent condition.