'Sha'ar Bat Rabim.' Venice, Four Huge Volumes. Among the Most Magnificent Machzorim Ever Printed

'Sha'ar Bat Rabim.' Venice, Four Huge Volumes. Among the Most Magnificent Machzorim Ever Printed

Sha'ar Bat Rabim -  magnificent large machzorim - huge format machzorim. Two parts in four huge volumes. Beautifully printed with wide margins. Each part opens with a magnificent copperplate title page with drawings of angels, human and animal figures and pictures of the Zodiac in Tefillat Tal. Venice, Bragadin Press. 1711-1715. 

Printing this machzor took five years. "Printed per request of the sacred communities in Italy, the Ashkenazic, Sephardic and Italian communities in Venice, the communities of Padua, Reggio, Verona, Mantua, Casale Monferrato, Gorizia and all their environs." These communities committed in advance to purchase the machzorim. It was sold piece by piece: "Each time you bring them a leaf of the machzor ... they will give you four peshutim."

The machzorim were printed by Yosef and Ya'akov Chai "HaKohanim HaMechokekim." In their introduction, the two complain about the demise of the name of the Venice presses: "The city ... was the epitome of printing sifrei kodesh from time immemorial ... and now it is but a minor player compared to early times ... [Sefarim] come from Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Constantinople ... Our city [Venice] is finished ... Its [printers] have descended into oblivion ... The machzorim with the Hadrat Kodesh commentary ... are nowhere to be found. Is this not the time to act for Hashem, to reclaim the glory of old ... The voice of fear is in our ears, do you not know that ... you must ask upstanding people who take gold from their pockets to buy the paper. To melt the letters and give them to the minister of print a respectable gift."

This is one of the most magnificent and important machzorim ever printed. The set was printed on thick, high-quality Italian paper in a huge format, with wide margins and beautiful etchings. At center are the prayers are written in "Kiddush Levanah" lettering [for the prayer leader and elderly people], with the Hadrat Kodesh commentary surrounding it with the approbations of Venice rabbis: Rabbi Shlomo b"r Yeshayah Nitza, Rabbi David b"R Shlomo Altadas, and Rabbi Raphael b"r Shlomo di Silva. R' Yitzchak b"r Asher Patzipiko the proofreader wrote the introduction, and at the end, he sang the praise of the printing of the machzor and its commentary.

Part I [Volumes 1 and 2]: Shabbat and holidays, Rosh Chodesh, Purim, Pesach and Tisha B'Av, Torah and haftarah readings, Pirkei Avot  with an Italian elucidation in Hebrew lettering and more. 360 leaf.

Part II [Volumes 3 and 4]: Prayers for the high holidays and Sukkot, including all the prayers and techinot from Rosh Chodesh Elul through Simchat Torah. 372, 377-384. 

Four volumes, 33-37 cm. Magnificent leather bindings.

Overall fine condition. Glosses. Aging stains. Artistic restoration to several leaves, with slight damage to the text.