Teshuvot She'elot ve-Iggrot...Moshe ha-Maimuni (Responsa and Correspondence of Maimonides) [Constantinople:1517]

24 leaves (10 1/8 x 6 7/8 in.; 257 x 175 mm). folio 14 misbound; neat mends in upper margin of a few leaves, some soiling and spotting. Cream cloth; soiled.

Moritz Koritschoner--his inscription on title. Koritschoner was Director of the Imperial and Royal Austrian Landerbank, Vienna, Austria. He died on October 6, 1912.

Vinograd, Constantinople 85; Yaari, Constantinople 87; Mehlman, 1213; Steinschneider 6513, 111

24 leaves (10 1/8 x 6 7/8 in.; 257 x 175 mm). folio 14 misbound; neat mends in upper margin of a few leaves, some soiling and spotting. 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.
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This work comprises a collection of responsa as well as correspondence from, to and in some cases about Moses Maimonides, rabbinic authority, codifier, philosopher, and royal physician (1135–1204).

The title page, undecorated, and lacking both the place of printing and the date, identifies the work as: Responses [to] questions, and [also] correspondence of the great luminary, the western light, our master and teacher, our rabbi Moses Maimuni (of blessed memory), which came to him from east and west, from north and south, from the sages of France, Iberia, Yemen and Babylonia.

Teshuvot She'elot includes Maimonides' ethical will contained within a letter to his son Abraham. Other letters relate to the widespread disputes over Maimonides' philosophical writings, particularly the Moreh Nevukhim and Sefer ha-Maddah, the philosophical-theological prolegomenon to Book I of the Mishneh Torah. Some of these were written after the death of Maimonides in 1204 and are addressed to his son Abraham. Also present is correspondence between Maimonides and Samuel ibn Tibbon, who translated many of the great sage's works from Arabic into Hebrew.

Assembled in gatherings of six leaves, the second half of the book (quires 3 and 4) was printed separately from the first half (quires 1 and 2). The typographic distinctions between the sections are evident in all known copies of this exceedingly rare work. The second half of the work, however was reset and enjoyed a second printing marked by very slight but unmistakable differences in the typography (compare the copy in JNUL). This second impression reflects the obvious demand for the work. Although bibliographers have placed the work in Constantinople ca. 1517 with a high degree of certainty, in light of the absence of explicit information concerning the place, date or printer of this rare work, it is impossible to determine which of these two contemporaneous versions of the second half of the book represents the earlier imprint.