Bidspirit auction | Four Sifrei Mussar and Drush

Four Sifrei Mussar and Drush Venice, Mantua & Cremona, 1545–1623 * A group of four sefarim containing ethical teachings, Torah commentary, and homiletic discourses. The volumes are damaged and, in most cases, incomplete; therefore, they have been grouped as a single lot. The collection includes: A. Tapuchei Zahav – an abridgment of Reishis Chochmah. Mantua, 1623. First edition. Incomplete and slightly damaged. B. Ohr Einayim – homiletic discourses. Cremona, 1557. Incomplete. C. Divrei Shalom by Rabbi Yitzchak Adarbi. Venice, 1597. Complete but damaged. D. Nachalas Avos by Don Yitzchak Abarbanel. Venice, 1545. Incomplete and slightly damaged. See below for a detailed description of each work and its condition. Venice, Mantua, and Cremona, 1545–1623. Total of [4] sefarim in [4] volumes. Various sizes and conditions. Please review the photographs carefully before placing a bid. Additional photographs are available upon request. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - A. Tapuchei Zahav – Abridgment of Reishis Chochmah. First Edition. Rare. An abridgment of the foundational work of mussar Reishis Chochmah by Rabbi Eliyahu de Vidas, by Rabbi Yechiel Mili. Includes various prayers and collected texts, some appearing here in print for the first time: the Iggeres HaRamban (its second printing, having first appeared within Reishis Chochmah), selected pesukim compiled by Rabbi Yehudah HaChassid and Rabbi Yosef Gikatilla, Orchos Chaim of the Rosh, Shir Bar Yochai, the Morning Prayer of Rav Saadiah Gaon, and sacred texts by the Rema of Fano from his manuscript work Ma’ayan Ganim. The sefer was printed in a small pocket-format so that, in the author’s words, anyone could “carry it in his pocket, to inspire and strengthen him, even while traveling by ship or wagon.” Mantua, 1623. First edition. Page Count: [3], 132 leaves. Lacking the title page and part of leaf 132. Size: Pocket format, 13.2 cm. Condition: Fair to fair-minus. Extensive signs of use, tears, and repairs on many leaves. Antique binding with functional clasps (slightly damaged). B. Ohr Einayim by Rabbi Shlomo Paniel Commentaries and discussions on faith through the framework of astrology and the “governance of the stars.” The title page states: “Containing many wondrous matters from our holy Torah.” The sefer was first printed in Constantinople around 1520 and is exceedingly rare. This is the second edition, expanded with scriptural references and an index at the end. Cremona, 1557 Page Count: 24, 29–32 leaves. Missing four leaves (25–28). Height: 19.7 cm. Condition: Good. A few tiny holes, a small repair to the title page, and a few stains. New binding. C. Divrei Shalom by Rabbi Yitzchak Adarbi, author of Shu”t Divrei Rivos Thirty homiletic discourses followed by a commentary on the Torah, by the gaon Rabbi Yitzchak Adarbi of Salonika, a friend of the Maharshadam and one of the leading Sephardic poskim of the sixteenth century. This is the third edition of the work (as noted on the title page), issued within only about eighteen years — a remarkably short interval that reflects the sefer’s great popularity during its time. The volume was printed by Rabbi Shmuel ben Daysus, who was active in Venice as both publisher and proofreader. He is especially well-known for the unique printed reproduction of his signature in the sefer Iggeres Dofi HaZeman (Venice, 1598), regarded by modern scholarship as the first printed facsimile in a Hebrew book. At the end of the volume there is a poem bearing an acrostic of the publisher’s name, Rabbi Shmuel ben Daysus, although it was in fact composed by Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh of Modena. Venice, 1597. Page Count: 168 leaves. Complete. Height: 27.7 cm. Condition: Fair to good. Holes in the first half of the sefer, mainly in the margins. Stains. D. Nachalas Avos by Don Yitzchak Abarbanel Pirkei Avos with the comprehensive and classic commentary of the great statesman and Torah scholar Don Yitzchak Abarbanel of Spain. Nachalas Avos is one of the foundational commentaries on Maseches Avos. In the introduction to his own commentary, the author of Midrash Shmuel lists it as one of the principal works upon which he relied for his commentary. The work was first printed in Constantinople in 1506 and is very rare. This is the second edition. The title page bears the Giustiniani printer’s emblem depicting the Beis Hamikdash, above which appears the verse: “The glory of this House shall be great, says Hashem Tzevaos.” On leaf 165 there is a somewhat forceful marginal note in early Italian handwriting, stating: “...the response of the gaon Abarbanel is not satisfactory....” The note has been trimmed along the sides and bottom. Venice, 1545. Page Count: 196 leaves. Missing 19 leaves (197–215).   Height: 20.3 cm. Condition: Overall fair, with several leaves in fair-minus condition. Stains. Wear to the first and last leaves.