Psalms, Salonika: David Azubib, 1 Tevet [5]384 (= 6 December 1583), and other works

147 leaves (7 1/8 x 5 in.; 182 x 128 mm).  Psalms, 1583: 63 of 80 leaves, lacking ff. 64-80; Minor Prophets, 1585: 35 of 54 leaves (ff. 4-33, 49-54), misbound; Ezekiel, 1572: 46 of 68 leaves, misbound (ff. 9, 13-36, 40-48, 57-60, 8, 61-67); all preceded by a single folio from Klalei ha-Talmud, Salonika 1598 and two folios from Hovot ha-Levavot, Constantinople: 1550. Soiled; stained; marginal losses; wormed. Psalms, Salonika 1583: title page with owner's note; some worming; most of f.8 and upper margin of f.9, perished.  Eighteenth century boards with futile leather repair. Severely worn with losses to boards and spine.

Vinograd Salonika, 112 (no copy known); Mehlman, Genuzot Sefarim, 35 (no copy known).

the earliest known dated edition of psalms in Ladino; no other copy extant

Ladino, also known as Judeo-Spanish, became the primary spoken and written language of Jews of Spanish origin following the 15th century expulsions from the Iberian Peninsula. Although Ladino religious literature had its origins in pre-expulsion Spain, it was only in the post-expulsion period, that it reached its zenith, particularly in the Sephardic Jewish communities in Constantinople and Salonika. These translations, written in Hebrew characters and having their own vocabulary and syntax, are clearly distinguishable from earlier bible translations. Over the ensuing centuries, they helped to mold the cultural heritage of Sephardic Jewry. Regarding the present volume, Israel Mehlman, renowned bibliographer of Hebrew printing in Salonika: “Every effort to locate a copy of this work in the world’s collections, has proven fruitless.”