Hiddushei ha-Rashba (Novellae of Solomon ibn Adret) Berakhot, Gittin, Venice: Daniel Bomberg, 1523

2 volumes [47, 133] leaves (9¾ x 7 in.; 248 x 175 mm). Vol. I: Title page mounted, repaired; dampstaining; light foxing to several leaves. Owners' notes and stamp on title page. Vol II: Marginal dampstains ; tape repairs title page; patches to corners f. 81-104, 110-133, not affecting text, to f. 80, affecting a few words; some worming. Owners' notes and pen trials on title page, f. 133; owner's stamps f. 2r. Brown buckram, gold stamped titles on spines.

Vinograd, Venice 75, 76; Habermann, 77, 78.

Known by the acronym Rashba, Solomon ben Abraham ibn Adret (c. 1235–c. 1310) was born to a distinguished family in Barcelona where he served as rabbi for forty years. After the departure of his teacher, Nahmanides, for the Land of Israel in the year 1267, ibn Adret became the undisputed leader and spokesman of Spanish Jewry. In that capacity, at the request of Pedro III of Aragon he adjudicated disputes between Jewish communities. During the Maimonidean controversy, Adret defended Maimonides' position in the dispute over the study of philosophy, albeit with severe restrictions.

Adret, as a student of Nahmanides, continued the introduction and development of the casuistic method of Talmudic exegesis of the Tosafists, in conjunction with the Spanish emphasis on practical understanding. Often quoting the Jerusalem Talmud, Adret's keen analysis is characterized by a clear style.

In a striking example of Daniel Bomberg's innovative marketing strategy, the title page of each volume indicates that each entry in Adret's novellae is marked with the folio number corresponding to the Talmud edition recently completed by the Bomberg press. This further enhanced the utility of the newly printed edition of the Talmud and helped to encourage the widespread acceptance of Bomberg's pagination, which would become the standard for all future editions.