Bidspirit auction | Exceptionally Rare! Sefer Yesod on

Exceptionally Rare! Sefer Yesod on Astronomy: Tzurat HaAretz by Rabbi Avraham HaNasi First Edition Basel, 1546 * A thick volume comprising two works printed together, one a foundational sefer on astronomy in its first edition, and the other a new abridgment of a foundational sefer on mathematics: A. Tzurat HaAretz VeTavnit HaShamayim on the wisdom of astronomy, by the sage Rabbi Avraham bar Chiya, known as ”Rebbi Avraham HaNasi, ” one of the great sages of Spain in the 12th century. First edition. B. Kitzur HaMelechet HaMispar on the science of mathematics, which is an abridgment of the sefer HaMispar by Rabbi Eliyahu Mizrachi (the Re'em). This abridgment is printed here for the first time. Many commentators and halachic authorities relied on the words of Rabbi Avraham HaNasi in his sefarim, such as: The Ibn Ezra, Radak, Razah, Meiri, Rabbeinu Bachya, Abarbanel, and others. The sefer Tzurat HaAretz is one of the earliest works that deals specifically with Jewish astronomy! The sefer Tzurat HaAretz is one of the foundational sefarim on astronomy, which plays a major role in the determination of the Hebrew calendar. Naturally, any degree of precision or, conversely, any deviation in the various calculations, has immense halachic ramifications. Throughout the sefer appear numerous and fascinating geometrical diagrams — of the globe, the angle of the sun's illumination upon the earth according to its rotations, and many others. In Kitzur Sefer HaMispar there are mathematical calculation tables. The sefer was printed by the renowned Hebraist Sebastian Münster and his colleague and student Oswald Schreckenfuchs. It was intended both for Jewish sages and for non-Jewish scholars, and therefore the sefer was printed in the same volume twice: in Hebrew (with Latin annotations), and also in Latin translation. The Hebrew section was printed in the traditional right-to-left format, and contains: [5], 351, [1] pages. The Latin section was printed left-to-right, and contains: [9], 207, [1] pages. Basel, 1546. First edition. Condition: Good, a few stains. Small margin restoration on one leaf. Bound in an exceptionally fine leather binding, the refined handwork of the master bookbinder Joseph Gradenwitz. The beauty of the binding earned it a place in a prestigious exhibition of book bindings held in London in 1972 (material attached). Bibliography: Stefansky Sifrei Yesod, no. 507. ”This sefer is likewise a great key and a gateway for the multitudes to enter into this profound wisdom, and one who grasps the content of its words — can rise ever higher in other sefarim on the science of calculating the calendar.” (From the words of Rabbi Yonasan ben Yosef, author of Yeshuah BeYisrael, in his introduction to the second edition of the sefer, Offenbach 1720).