Shulhan Arukh (The Prepared Table), Joseph Caro, Venice: Giorgio di Cavalli: 1567

232 leaves (12 x 8 ¾ in.; 305 x 228 mm). foliation. 62, 56, 34, 71 (9)= 232 leaves. Third edtion. Four parts in one volume. Title letters within decorative woodcut vignettes and elaborate rendition of printer’s device; opening word of each section within decorative woodcut border-piece incorporating printer’s device. Occasional light stains, heavier on ff. 1-2. Strengthened at gutter throughout, sometimes affecting text; some leaves extended or remargined. Worming expertly repaired, sometimes affecting text. Owners’ inscriptions and stamps on title page and final leaf. Tinted edges. Modern blind tooled and paneled morocco.

an important early edition of the influential and authoritative digest of halakha

A little more than a year after the press of Alvise Bragadin published the first edition of the Shulhan Arukh in 1565, two other Venetian printers scrambled to produce their own versions in order to capitalize on the work's great popularity. Both Giovanni Gryphio and Giorgio di Cavalli decided to produce folio editions, presumably in the belief that the larger format was more prestigious and would achieve commercial success. In addition to the four-part structure of the work, Cavalli’s edition divided the whole into thirty “daily” sections in order to facilitate Caro’s admonition to complete the study of the entire corpus each month.

LITERATURE:
Vinograd, Venice 553