Imrei No'am, (Words of Delight) Jacob de Illescas, Constantinople: Eliezer ben Gershom Soncino, 1539

30 [of 42 ] leaves (7 3/8 x 5 in.; 187 x 127 mm) lacking ff. 4-15. Woodcut title border; title soiled and shaved affecting fore- and bottom margins, light dampstains confined to margins save in one quire. Cream cloth.

Vinograd, Constantinople 166; Yaari, Constantinople 129

30 [of 42 ] leaves (7 3/8 x 5 in.; 187 x 127 mm) lacking ff. 4-15, woodcut title border; title soiled and shaved affecting fore- and bottom margins, light dampstains confined to margins save in one quire. Cream cloth.
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Imrei No'am is a kabbalistic and grammatical super-commentary to Rashi and ibn Ezra on the Pentateuch. Other than the present lot, printed by Eliezer ben Gershom Soncino in 1539, no other works by de Illescas have survived. In fact, very little is known about de Illescas; it is presumed that his family originated in the small town by that name, located near Toledo in Castille. The few sources we have suggest that he lived in the 14th century, yet the title page of the present lot does not include the traditional honorific accorded a deceased author and the possibility that de Illescas was a contemporary author of the 16th century should not be dismissed out of hand. The commentary itself proved quite popular and was printed three times during the sixteenth century and was included by Moses Frankfurter in the ground-breaking Kehillot Moshe (Amsterdam, 1724-27). Imrei No'am was especially influential for a number of Polish rabbis, whose works frequently cited it. These include: Nathan Nata Spira's Imrei Shefer (Cracow/Lublin, 1591-97); Moses Mat of Przemysl's Ho'il Moshe (Prague, 1611); Moses Heilperin's Ahavat Zion (Lublin, 1639), Issachar Baer Eilenborg's Zeidah la-Derekh (Prague, 1623), and Samuel Eliezer Edels (Maharsha) in his Hiddushei Aggadot.

The work was begun on 15 Heshvan 5300 (=27 October 1539) and was completed on 5 Tevet 5300 (=16 December 1539). The colophon indicates that Eliezer ben Gershom Soncino interrupted the massive undertaking of printing the Arba'ah Turim (see lot 94) in order to produce this volume. Most bibliographers have mistakenly listed the work as a 1540 edition.