Bidspirit auction | Kol Musar. Fifty Ethical Poems

Kol Musar. Fifty Ethical Poems by Rabbi Samson HaKohen Modon. Mantua, 1725 - A rare and distinctive work comprising fifty rhymed poems on ethics, moral conduct, rebuke, and the challenges of daily life, authored by Rabbi Samson HaKohen Modon, one of the notable rabbis of Italy. The volume reflects the intellectual and spiritual world of Italian Jewry in the early eighteenth century, combining elegant poetic language with educational and moral instruction. Among the poems are meditations on the Day of Judgment, compositions for days of fasting, allegories contrasting the diligent and the lazy, admonitions against drunkenness and frivolity, and reflections on character development and the service of God. The volume opens with laudatory poems in honor of the author by Rabbi David ben Rabbi Azriel Pensi and the learned physician Kalonymus of Italy. The book is attractively produced in the refined style characteristic of Italian Hebrew printing. Each poem is introduced within an ornate decorative frame, while decorative illustrations of suns and wheel motifs appear throughout the volume, lending it a distinctive artistic character. The author, Rabbi Samson ben Yaakov Shimshon HaKohen Modon (1679–1727), was among the scholars of Mantua and a disciple of Rabbi Judah Briel. His writings exemplify the unique synthesis of Torah scholarship, poetry, and ethical literature that characterized many of the leading rabbis of Italy. Printed on fine, high-quality white paper, a notable feature of Mantuan Hebrew printing of this period. [32] leaves. 23.5 cm. Condition: Very good. Printed on thick paper. Attractive contemporary half-leather binding.