Hebrew Bible, Iyov (Job), with commentary of Gersonides. Naples: Joseph ben Jacob Ashkenazi Gunzenhauser, September 26, 1487

48 leaves (10 3/8  x 7 3/4 in.; 265 x 195 mm). ( i-vi^{8) unfoliated, signed to the fold; woodcut frame surrounding initial word, f. 2r;  owner's stamp on verso of final leaf; Hebrew letters indicating chapter divisions added in manuscript throughout, some manuscript additions correcting or completing text. Some dampstaining at the margins, lightly soiled. Modern brown morocco, paneled in blind.}

Moses Halfon; Jews' College, deaccesioned 1999.

Offenberg, Census,46; Iakerson, JTS, 46; Goff, Heb-26; Rudavsky, Tamar, "Gersonides", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2007 Edition), Edward N. Zalta(ed.); The Commentary of Levi ben Gerson on the Book of Job, translated by Abraham L. Lassen. New York: Bloch, 1946; Alexander Marx, "Hebrew Incunabula", The Jewish Quarterly Review, New Ser., Vol. 11, No. 1. (Jul., 1920), pp. 98-119.

The Book of Job has been placed in two distinct subsets within biblical literature. Along with Psalms and Proverbs, Job is one of the Sifrei Emet (lit. "Books of Truth" as well as an acronym of their Hebrew titles).  It has also been grouped with Proverbs and Ecclesiastes as a product of the wisdom movement.  The book grapples with questions of good and evil, punishment and reward and the unequal relationship of man and God. Ultimately, the Book of Job is an articulation of the human question of "why." Often called the finest expression of Hebrew poetic genius, Job must also be accorded a place among the greatest masterpieces of world literature. Victor Hugo was reputed to have proclaimed, "Tomorrow, if all literature was to be destroyed and it was left to me to retain one work only, I should save Job." 

Joseph ben Jacob Ashkenazi Gunzenhauser, founder of the first Hebrew press in Naples, brought his knowledge of printing with him from his native Bavaria.  In 1487, Joseph began the printing of a series of biblical books from the Hagiographa. Between March 28 and September 26, Gunzenhauser produced the first Hebrew books printed in Naples: Psalms, Proverbs and Job.  The volume containing Job was originally printed with several other books of the Hagiographa. Gunzenhauser arranged each book to fit in a whole number of quires thus facilitating their separation into separate volumes as has occurred here.  The illustrated initial word panel was most likely the work of Joseph Gunzenhauser's brother-in-law, Moses ben Isaac. The panel is identical with others that appear in works printed by the Gunzenhauser press, including the 1489, Hovot ha-Levavot which mentions Moses ben Isaac in a lengthy epigraph. 

The author of the commentary in this volume, Rabbi Levi ben Gershom (1288-1344) is best known for his philosophical masterwork, Milhamot Adonai. Also known as Gersonides or by the Hebrew acronym Ralbag, he penned numerous volumes of biblical commentaries and his commentary on the Book of Job, completed in 1325, proved to be one of his most popular works. The commentary, which complements the fourth book of Milhamot Adonai, is concerned with the problem of divine providence. According to Gersonides, each of the characters in the Book of Job represents a different theory of divine providence; Gersonides' own position is that providence is not directed to particulars but rather to groups of individuals, or universals. Unlike his philosophical work, which was frequently derided, his commentaries occupied a central place in Jewish theology.