Bidspirit auction | Ma’alot HaMiddot – One of

Ma’alot HaMiddot – One of the Earliest and Most Important Ethical Works in Jewish Literature | Early and Elegant Edition - Ma’alot HaMiddot, a foundational ethical work by Rabbi Yechiel ben Yekutiel ben Binyamin HaRofeh. Offenbach (Aubibach), 1716. An early and significant edition of one of the most influential ethical works of the medieval period. The book enjoyed wide circulation for centuries and profoundly influenced generations of scholars, preachers, and authors of Jewish ethical literature. The author, Rabbi Yechiel ben Yekutiel ben Binyamin HaRofeh, was among the early sages of Ashkenaz. His work, Ma’alot HaMiddot, focuses on character refinement, fear of Heaven, ethical conduct, and personal spiritual development, and is regarded as one of the foundational classics of Hebrew ethical literature, predating many of the better-known mussar works of later centuries. The title page of the present edition contains a fascinating historical note relating the publication history of the work. It records that the book had first been printed in Cremona in 1556 in Rashi type and had by then become exceedingly scarce, to the extent that “not even a single copy could be found in the city.” For this reason, the publishers joined together to produce a new and elegant edition, printed “with black ink on white paper and in handsome square letters.” At the end of the volume appears an attractive woodcut depicting a rabbi delivering a sermon before a gathered audience—an uncommon artistic feature that adds considerable charm to this edition. Early editions of Ma’alot HaMiddot are highly sought after by collectors of ethical literature, early Hebrew books, and Hebrew printing in eighteenth-century Germany. [2], 54 leaves. 19 cm. Good to very good condition. Age stains. Binding detached.