Yalkut Shimoni (The Anthology of Simon), Shimon ha-Darshan, Salonika: Don Judah Gedaliah for Solomon ibn Yakar, 1521

304 leaves (11¼ x 7¾ in.; 285 x 196 mm). Title soiled with small wormtrack, scattered spotting and dampstaining, a few marginal mends, marginalia; ff. 86, 89 and final leaf supplied from another copy. Cream cloth; soiled.

Elkan Nathan Adler—his bookplate

Vinograd, Salonika 14; Mehlman 200; Steinschneider 7197, 1; Arthur B. Hyman, Mekorot Yalkut Shimoni

304 leaves (11¼ x 7¾ in.; 285 x 196 mm). Title soiled with small wormtrack, scattered spotting and dampstaining, a few marginal mends, marginalia; ff 86, 89 and final leaf supplied from another copy. Cream cloth; soiled.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Little is known of Shimon ha-Darshan, the compiler of this thirteenth century work, but his aggregation of over 10,000 statements in aggadah and halakhah, covering all the books of the Bible stands on its own merits, insofar as it represents a majority of the rabbinical sayings at his disposal at thet time.  He collected material from more than 50 works (in halakhah and in aggadah) and for some of these, the Yalkut is the only source, including Sifrei Zuta, Yelammedenu, Midrash Esfah, Midrash Avkir, Midrash Tadshe,and Devarim Zuta. The identification of these works was made possible in part by the author's custom of noting the source for his statement.

The numbering system is arcane and according to some, arbitrary, but it seems probable that it served an internal need of the book itself, its purpose being not to divide the work into sections, but to indicate those statements to which he intended to refer in some other part of his work.

Since the first printed edition of the Yalkut Shimoni appeared in Salonika in 1521, the Yalkut has been published frequently but later editors and printers used a free hand in altering passages according to their own views but only succeeded in corrupting the text. For an accurate reading one can rely only on the Salonika edition; even the manuscripts available today in the libraries of Oxford, Vienna, Parma, and Hamburg, are mostly fragmentary and in their totality do not cover all the books of the Bible. Arthur Hyman, in his Mekorot Yalkut Shimoni , includes several long and important passages which occur only in the Salonika imprint but were excluded from later editions by the censor.

The final folio bears the signature of the Inquisitor of Turin, Bartolomeo Rocca de Praeterino (See Popper p. 89, Plate v). As Popper notes, the inquisitor himself signed but did not censor the books, preferring to hand them over to his subordinate Father Paul Lector for expurgation. Other works with Praetorino's signature are in fact countersigned by Lector while this volume is not. This may perhaps explain the paucity of censored passages.