Bidspirit auction | Tzemach Tzedek. Amsterdam, [1675] First

Tzemach Tzedek. Amsterdam, [1675] First edition. - Responsa Tzemach Tzedek (the early Tzemach Tzedek). By the Gaon Rabbi Menachem Mendel Krochmal of Nikolsburg. Amsterdam, [1675]. Printed by David de Castro Tartas. First edition. A foundational and important responsa work by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Krochmal of Nikolsburg—one of the central Ashkenazic halakhic authorities of the seventeenth century—known as “the early Tzemach Tzedek” (to distinguish him from the later Tzemach Tzedek of Chabad). Presented here is the first edition, printed after the author’s death by his son and successor, Rabbi Aryeh Yehudah Leib Krochmal, who prefaced the work with his own introductory remarks alongside his father’s introduction. The book was printed in Amsterdam at the press of David de Castro Tartas, among the leading printers active in the city in the second half of the seventeenth century, and is regarded as a cornerstone of Ashkenazic responsa literature. Contents and structure: Leaves 1–2: the author’s introduction and his son’s introduction. Leaves 3–10: indexes. From leaf 193b to the end: the Kuntres Aḥaron (final supplement). This copy bears ownership inscriptions and rabbinic signatures. [1], 11, 5–196 leaves. 18 cm. High-quality white paper. Condition: very good. Attractive early vellum binding.