Toledot Adam ve-Havah (Chronicles of Adam and Eve) and Sefer Mesharim (Book of the Upright), Jeroham ben Meshullam (Rabbenu Yeruham), Constantinople: ibn Nahmias, 1516

408 leaves (10  1/8  x 7¾ in.; 257 x 197 mm).  Foliation: 1-272 [14], 1-122. Woodcut title border; woodcut printer's device on title page and final leaf; woodblock initial letters. Title page remargined, touching outer edges of woodcut border on recto; affecting a few letters on verso which have been replaiced in manuscript. Minor marginal repairs ff. 2-4 and final leaf, reinforced at gutter; isolated instances of worming, not affecting text. Green and red speckled edges. Modern blind-tooled  blue and black cloth; minor loss to front board at front edge. Titles gilt-stamped on spine, faded.

After the expulsion of the Jews from France in 1306, Jeroham ben Meshullam (c. 1290–1350), a native of Provence, wandered through several countries before settling in Toledo, Spain, where he studied with Asher ben Jehiel (the Rosh). In his first known work, the Sefer Mesharim, a treatise on civil law, Jeroham arranged the relevant laws according to their subjects, noted their sources and origins in the Talmud, and collected the decisions of many scholars, including French, Provençal and Spanish authorities. He was meticulous in arranging his work so that it was easily navigable by both "great scholars and minor students." At the urging of his contemporaries, Jeroham composed a second work based on the life cycle entitled Toledot Adam ve-Havvah. Both works were  highly esteemed and quoted extensively by later codifiers such as Joseph Caro, Samuel de Medina, and others. The present lot comprises the first edition of both works, Sefer Mesharim and Toledot Adam ve-Havvah, printed in a single volume in Constantinople in 1516. (Vinograd, Constantinople 83; Yaari, Constantinople 50.)

Provenance: Mosad ha-Rav Kook-stamps (including deaccession stamp) on title page and final leaf; F.T. Dent, London-stamp on title page and f.138v.