Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Rosh ha-Shanah, Venice: Daniel Bomberg, 1521

Folio (13¾ x 9½ in.; 350 x 242 mm). collation: 1-4^{8, 510=42 leaves, woodcut initial; title and two quires supplied from another copy, mended tears and crude coloring on second leaf entering text, other mended tears, damp stains. Half vellum.}

Vinograd, Venice 49; Habermann 32

Folio (13¾ x 9½ in.; 350 x 242 mm). collation: 1-48, 510=42 leaves, woodcut initial; title and two quires supplied from another copy, mended tears and crude coloring on second leaf entering text, other mended tears, damp stains. Half vellum.
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Rosh ha-Shanah is the traditional rabbinic designation for the celebration of the New Year, one of the major festivals of the Jewish calendar, which falls in "the seventh month, on the first day of the month"(Lev. 23:24).  The tractate Rosh Ha-Shanah, however, opens with the statement that there are four separate days, each of which is deemed a New Year for its own specific purpose. Thus the first of Nisan is the New Year for kings and for festivals, and the 15th of Shevat (or the first) the New Year for trees. However, the first day of Tishri, the "New Year for years," i.e., the beginning of the calendar year, became known as the New Year par excellence, and the bulk of the tractate's discussion is elaboration of the laws concerning it, its religious significance, and the details surrounding the sounding of the shofar.