Sefer Zevah Pesah, Isaac ben Judah Abrabanel, Venice: Marco Antonio Guistiniani, 1545

8vo (8 x 5 7/8 in.; 202 x 150 mm). collation: 1-16^{4, 173=67 leaves. Woodcut vignette on title; marginal soiling and occasional spotting, last few leaves mended in gutter margin. Sixteenth-century limp vellum, blind-ruled with gold-stamped olive-wreath medallion; remboîtage, upper hinge broken, soiled.}

Yehiel Dov Friedman—his signature on title page; Sabbetai Hayyim Bakar—his signature on title page

Vinograd, Venice 238; Yudlov, 13; Yaari 10; Yerushalmi 18

8vo (8 x 5 7/8 in.; 202 x 150 mm). collation: 1-164, 173=67 leaves, woodcut vignette on title; marginal soiling and occasional spotting, last few leaves mended in gutter margin. 16th-century limp vellum, blind-ruled with gold-stamped olive-wreath medallion; remboîtage, upper hinge broken, soiled.
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the first haggadah printed in venice

The life of Don Isaac ben Judah Abrabanel (1437–1508), serves as a useful lens through which to view the maelstrom of events that befell the Jews of the Iberian Peninsula in the second half of the fifteenth century and which culminated in their expulsion. Don Isaac, a statesman, philosopher, and biblical exegete, was born in Lisbon where he received a broad education embracing traditional Jewish subjects, including religious philosophy.  In addition, he assiduously studied not only the basic works of classical literature, but the writings of the foremost Christian theologians as well. Abrabanel was successful in both commerce and state finance and succeeded his father as treasurer of King Alfonso V of Portugal.  Following a failed insurrection in which Abarbanel was implicated he was forced to flee, though he evidently managed to transfer a substantial part of his fortune to Castile beforehand, and entered the service of Ferdinand and Isabella of Castile in 1484. Abrabanel engaged in large scale tax farming and loaned enormous sums of money to the royal treasury for special purposes After the edict of expulsion of Spanish Jewry had been signed, on March 31, 1492, Abrabanel tried in vain to obtain a reprieve for Spanish Jewry. 

Throughout his tumultous life filled with the goings-on of high finance, national politics, and court intrigue, Abrabanel still used his considerable wealth and Influence to try to ameliorate the severity of the events overtaking his brethren. He also made the time and took the effort to set down in writing his many works treating a broad range of topics including biblical exegesis, his philosophical thought,  and what he believed would be, the imminent messianic redemption.

In his introductory remarks to this work, Abarbanel poses 100 questions which he proposes to answer at length in his commentary.  While many of his replies address the text directly, in many cases he holds forth on a subject at great length, without establishing any direct connection with the text. The commentary thus becomes a separate and important discourse in its own right.

This is the first book printed by Marco Antonio Giustiniani. On the title page is his printer's device, a representation of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, an image often conflated by Christians with the Bet ha-Mikdash, or Holy Temple that until 70 CE, occupied the same location. The banner unfurled above reads: The glory of this latter House shall be greater than that of the former, says the Lord of hosts (Haggai 2:9). The verse, which in its original context imagined a rebuilt Holy Temple in Jerusalem that would eclipse the Solomonic Temple, here takes on a more subversive meaning. Giustiniani's use of this biblical passage was intended to suggest that his fledgling press would overshadow that of his great rival, Daniel Bomberg, though this proved not to be the case. Nevertheless, the high quality of Giustiniani's publications, particularly his edition of the Talmud, was sufficient to secure his reputation as a printer and make his name and ensign sufficiently attractive to other printers to warrant their emulation.