Bidspirit auction | First Halacha Sefer! Sefer Yesod:

First Halacha Sefer! Sefer Yesod: Sheiltos D’Rav Achai Gaon. First Edition. Venice, 1546. Bomberg Press. * Halachos and rulings based on the order of the Torah portions by Rav Achai of Shivcha, one of the first Geonim in Babylonia. Sefer HaSheiltos was the very first halachic sefer written after the completion of the Talmud, and is a foundational work of Jewish Law. The Rishonim ascribed great significance to Rav Achai’s opinion, and wrote that one can rely on his rulings as if his words were written in the Talmud (Shu”t Maharam Rottenberg). Rav Achai of Shivcha lived in the early period of the Geonim and was one of the great sages in the Babylonian Yeshivah of Pumbedisa. In his final years, he settled in Eretz Yisrael. Daniel Bomberg Press. Venice, 1546. First Edition . 61, [1] leaves. Size : 27.9 cm. Condition : Good; stains on several leaves. Fine English half-leather binding. On the final leaf, there is a kind of handwritten “prescription” in Italian script, intended as a remedy for “choli hanetek” (a scalp disease). The text is written in Hebrew, interspersed with Italian words in Hebrew characters. At the conclusion, it states: “Tested and tried many times by my mother-in-law, Mrs. Penina, may she be blessed, and especially for the daughter of … [name erased].” Provenance : Lunzer–Valmadonna Collection. Bibliography : Stefansky, Sifrei Yesod, no. 219.