Bidspirit auction | Landmark First Edition of Beis

Landmark First Edition of Beis Yosef! Beis Yosef Even HaEzer Sabbioneta, 1553. First Edition. Beautiful Copy * Tur Even HaEzer by Rabbi Yaakov ben HaRosh surrounded by the Beis Yosef of Rabbi Yosef Karo. The present sefer is the first edition of the Beis Yosef and was printed by the author himself. In his landmark sefer Beis Yosef, Rabbi Yosef Karo (1488-1575) established the foundations of halachah for the Jewish nation for ever after. He collected all sources of halachos from the writings of the Rishonim, along with any disputes and explanations, and presented them in an organized fashion along with their conclusions. His conclusions were then established as halachah in the Shulchan Aruch. Rabbi Yosef Karo toiled for two decades to author the Beis Yosef, and then devoted an additional twelve years to edit and prepare it for print. He named this monumental work Beis Yosef upon the instruction of the Maggid (angel) who appeared to him and taught him Torah. “And it spread through all of Yisrael, finding favor and value and greatness in the eyes of all who saw it, and all the Rabbis and sages commended it…and elevated it above all the sefarim that preceded it…Our eyes have seen that this work… those who delve into and teach the law use it, and without it, no one would lift his hand or foot to teach the law…” (Introduction to Knesses Hagedolah Orach Chaim). Among the leaves of the sefer are several early Ashkenazic glosses from the 1540s, clearly written by a distinguished Torah scholar. Sabbioneta 1553. First edition. Page Count: 232 leaves. Size: 33.2 cm. Condition: A fine copy, the title page is slightly worn. Minor tears in the initial leaves and some stains. Bound in an antique binding bearing an emblem of Jewish nobility. The emblem is not recorded in Araldica ebraica in Italia, the reference work on Jewish emblems of nobility. (New spine and endpapers.) Bibliography: Stefansky, Sefer Yesod, no. 152. Provenance: Winner’s Auction, 2022.