Bidspirit auction | Menorat HaMaor with the commentary

Menorat HaMaor with the commentary Nefesh Yehudah. Amsterdam, 1722 - Menorat HaMaor with the commentary Nefesh Yehudah. Amsterdam, 1722 [Taf-Pe-Bet]. An especially fine and impressive copy, bound in original wooden boards covered with leather. One of the foundational works of Jewish ethical literature, Menorat HaMaor by Rabbi Yitzchak Abohab became a classic text of Jewish moral thought, embraced by all Jewish communities and reprinted in countless editions. The present edition includes the important commentary Nefesh Yehudah by Rabbi Moshe Frankfurter of Amsterdam. At the beginning of the volume appear two title pages – the first a magnificently engraved copperplate title, depicting the Burning Bush, with figures of Moses holding his staff and Aaron lighting the Menorah – among the most artistically striking title pages of the Amsterdam presses of the early 18th century. It is related that the Vilna Gaon greatly cherished Menorat HaMaor, and that the Chatam Sofer would regularly study it with his daughters. Rabbi Moshe Frankfurter (1732–1762), one of the distinguished rabbis and dayanim of Amsterdam and great-granduncle of the Chatam Sofer, was also the author of Zeh Yenachamenu on the Mechilta, Kohelet Moshe on Mikraot Gedolot, and Be’er Heitev on Choshen Mishpat. His Nefesh Yehudah commentary, printed here, was his first published work—issued when he was only twenty-eight years old. Amsterdam, 1722 [Taf-Pe-Bet]. [5], 129 leaves. Condition: Very Good. Minor paper repairs with small reinforcement labels on leaves 2–3; small tears without loss to the introduction leaf; light age-staining. Bound in original wooden boards covered with leather, retaining traces of brass clasps; front board detached. An attractive and complete copy of this elegant Amsterdam printing.