Bidspirit auction | Responsa of Maharam of Rothenburg

Responsa of Maharam of Rothenburg – Prague, 1608 – First Edition – Exampler of the Gaon Rabbi Yitzchak ben Rabbi Shimshon HaKohen, Son-in-Law of the Maharal of Prague - Responsa of Maharam of Rothenburg (Short Form) – Prague, 1608 – First Edition – Exampler Signed by the Publisher, the Gaon Rabbi Yitzchak ben Rabbi Shimshon HaKohen, Son-in-Law of the Maharal of Prague [”Son-in-law of the great Gaon Rabbi Leib”] – Extremely Rare! On the page behind the title page appears the signature of Rabbi Yitzchak Katz, son-in-law of the Maharal: “I am a worm and not a man, a disgrace of humanity and despised by the people, Yitzchak ben Shimshon HaKohen of blessed memory, son-in-law of the great Gaon Rabbi Leib, may he live — be strong and courageous, Amen, Selah.”  (The last two words are crossed out.) This Sefer was brought to print by Rabbi Yitzchak Katz, the Maharal’s son-in-law. This is stated in the introduction to Chavot Yair, and hinted on the title page with the verse: “And Yitzchak sowed in that year one hundredfold…” The Chida, with his keen eye, noted that the initial letters of each sentence in the (unsigned) publisher’s introduction spell out the very sentence cited above. These are the Chida’s words in Shem HaGedolim (entry “M”, under Maharam of Rothenburg’s Responsa): “I saw in the introduction to Chavot Yair that the introduction to the Maharam’s responsa is from the Gaon Rabbi Yitzchak HaKohen, son-in-law of the Maharal of Prague. Upon further investigation, I noticed that this is hinted in the introduction itself — the first letters of its sections spell:   אנכי תולעת ולא איש חרפת אדם ובזוי עם יצחק בר שמשון הכהן זכרו לברכה חתן הגאון הגדול מהר”ר ליב נר”ו חזק [ואמץ] אמן סלה All this is a Roshei Teivot [acrostic] of the statement, which proves that he composed it himself… The very sentence encoded in acrostic, discovered by the Chida, is explicitly signed here in this very copy — by the publisher himself! Stefansky, Sifrei Yesod, no. 264. Leaves: II, 5–114. 29 cm. Good condition. Stains. Edge tears on the final two leaves. Newly restored binding.