Zevah Pesah; Nahalat Avot; Rosh Amana, Isaac Abrabanel; Three works issued in one volume, Constantinople: David and Samuel ibn Nahmias, 1505

171 [of 176] leaves (10 x 7 in.; 254 x 178 mm). Three woodcut title borders.  Zevah Pesah: ff. 1-40, title soiled, stained and mounted with loss in fore-margin of border, some water-staining and spotting, f. 27 lacking, lower outer corner of f. 33 torn with loss, lower margins of a few leaves mended; Nahalat Avot: ff. 41-156, some soiling and waterstaining, f. 25, 74 of work (65, 114 of volume) lacking, lower outer corner of folio 64 of work (104 of volume) torn with loss and marginal tape repair. Rosh Amana: ff. 157-176, title page strengthened at lower gutter, waterstains and soiling, ff. 15, 19 of work (171, 175 of volume) lacking, final leaf mounted with loss of text  at upper margin. Final leaves of each work signed by two censors: Domenico Irosolimitano (Yerushalmi) in Hebrew and Latin, 1615;  Petrus de Trevio, 1623. Old three-quarter sheep, gold-stamped title on spine; corners and spine rubbed.

Samuel ben Dan Jacob Shalom, (Av Bet Din in Hague)-his name (crossed out) on recto of Nahalat Avot title; Ari Grunstein, his stamp (covered) on backing of recto of  Zevah Pesah title page

Vinograd, Constantinople 9, 3 & 12; Yaari, Constantinople 3; Mehlman 1189; Yudlov, Hagadah 5; Yaari, Hagadah 3; not in Adams

171 [of 176] leaves (10 x 7 in.; 254 x 178 mm). Three woodcut title borders. Zevah Pesah: ff.1-40, title soiled stained and mounted with loss in fore-margin of border, some water-staining and spotting, f. 27 lacking, lower outer corner of f. 33 torn with loss, lower margins of a few leaves mended; Nahalat Avot: ff. 41-156, some soiling and waterstaining f. 25, 74 of work (65, 114 of volume) lacking, lower outer corner of folio 64 of work (104 of volume) torn with loss and marginal tape repair. Rosh Amanah: ff.157-176, title page strengthened at lower gutter, waterstains and soiling, ff. 15, 19 of work (171, 175 of volume) lacking, final leaf mounted with loss of text at upper margin. Final leaves of each work signed by two censors: Dominico Irosolimitano (Yerushalmi) in Hebrew and Latin, 1615; Petrus de Trevio, 1623. Old three-quarter sheep, gold-stamped title on spine; corners and spine rubbed.
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The first printed commentary on the Passover Haggadah

Isaac ben Judah Abrabanel (1437-1508) was a noted statesman, biblical exegete, and philosopher who was among the many thousands of Jews expelled from Spain in 1492 and was forced to wander throughout the region before arriving in late 1495 at the age of 58, in Monopoli, in the kingdom of Naples, halfway between Brindisi and Bari on the Adriatic coast.  Here Abrabanel set aside his other writings and began to compose Zevah Pesah.  In this commentary on the Passover haggadah, Abrabanel used the paradigm of the redemption of the Jews from Egypt to address his concerns with the calamities that had befallen his own generation of Spanish exiles.

The commentary is lengthy, deep and thorough, but eminently readable. In his introductory remarks, Abrabanel 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, even in the absence of a direct textual connection. The commentary thus became an important discourse in its own right. It has proven to be of enduring popularity, and has often been reprinted.

Zevah Pesah was brought to press and published together with Nahalat Avot (a commentary on the Ethics of the Fathers) and Rosh Amana (on the principles of the Jewish faith), all three being sold as a single unit.  Printed by David and Samuel ibn Nahmias, the three works share a single printer's colophon reporting that they were completed on Thursday, 9 Kislev, in the year 5266 (6 November 1505).