Sefer ha-Hinnukh (The book of Instruction), Pinhas ben Joseph ha-Levi of Barcelona, Venice: Daniel Bomberg, 1523

179 leaves (10 3/8 x 7½ in.; 264 x 190 mm). collation: 1-22^{8, 233=179 leaves; upper portion and lower margin of title mended with loss of a few words on verso with some worming and a hole due to ink corrosion, some mostly marginal dampstaining and spotting, extensive marginalia, a few words struck through; censors' inscriptions on ff. 178v (Luigi da Bologna, 1599) and f. 179r (Laurentius Franguellus, 1575.) Eighteenth-century maroon sheep, blind-tooled in a panel design with stamped floral ornaments in the panels and roll-tooled floral ornaments in the frames; joints, edges and bands rubbed.}

Abraham Shabbetai Orvieto of Siena—his purchase note on title page dated 1801

Vinograd, Venice 78; Haberman 82; Israel Ta-Shma, "Mehabbero ha-'amitti shel Sefer ha-hinnukh," Kiryat Sefer 55 (1980): 787-90

179 leaves (10 3/8 x 7½ in.; 264 x 190 mm). collation: 1-228, 233=179 leaves; upper portion and lower margin of title mended with loss of a few words on verso with some worming and a hole due to ink corrosion, some mostly marginal dampstaining and spotting, extensive marginalia, a few words struck through; censors' inscriptions on ff. 178v (Luigi da Bologna, 1599) and f. 179r (Laurentius Franguellus, 1575.) Eighteenth-century maroon sheep, blind-tooled in a panel design with stamped floral ornaments in the panels and roll-tooled floral ornaments in the frames; joints, edges and bands rubbed.
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.

Sefer ha-Hinnukh rearranges the 613 commandments enumerated by Maimonides in Sefer ha-Mitzvot (Book of the Commandments), listing them according to the weekly Torah portion. The marginal notations that appear throughout the present copy represent cross-references to another work of Maimonides, the Mishneh Torah.

The identity of the author of Sefer ha-Hinnukh has until recently been among the greatest mysteries of medieval Jewish literature. Despite the doubts that persisted for centuries as to the work's true author, scholars had no doubt as to the dating of the work which was composed at the end of the thirteenth century. In his introduction, the author, who refers to himself only as "a Jew of the house of Levi of Barcelona," writes that he has written the work in order to arouse the heart of his young son and his youthful companions to regularly study the commandments.  Jacob ben Hayyim ibn Adonijah, the editor of the first printed edition, credits the Sefer ha-Hinnukh to a certain Rabbi Aaron leading many to speculate that the author was Aaron ben Joseph ha-Levi of Barcelona, a view which subsequently became widely accepted though it continued to trouble some scholars.  In 1980, Israel Ta-Shma demonstrated convincingly that the author of Sefer ha-Hinnukh was in fact Aaron's brother, Pinhas ben Joseph ha-Levi, who had written the work for his son, Joshua.