Mishneh Torah, Maimonides, Venice: Daniel Bomberg, 1524

771 (396+375) leaves (14 x 9 1/4 in.; 357 x 235 mm) in two volumes. FOLIATION: [2], 2-389 [6]; [1], 394-767 = 771 leaves. Fourteen parts in two volumes; titles within woodcut architectural arches; with the rare unnumbered title page before f. 394, absent in most copies but present here; also includes the rare, unnumbered, introductory leaf by the editor, David ben Eliezer ha-Levi. Initial word panels within woodcut floral vignettes. Vol I: some soiling and staining throughout; title page and a several leaves expertly mounted, remargined or repaired, though mostly in two first and two last quires, only occasionally affecting letters or words; scattered marginalia throughout, occasionally extensive (e.g. ff.232v, 370v); manuscript bills of sale dated 1677 and 1900, f. 228v; ex library stamp f.231r. Vol II: title page and final two leaves mounted; leaves of first quire and a few in final quire expertly remargined with no loss of text; first three quires lightly browned and with marginal dampstain; minor worming in last quire, affecting individual letters only; frass, ff.765-6; owner's notations on title page; scattered marginalia (e.g.f.491v); a few isolated instances of censorship of individual words; one significant expurgated passage, f. 763r (parts of 13 lines eradicated—lack  of censor’s signature would seem to indicate that the volume was self-censored by its Jewish owners as a prophylactic measure.) Modern gold-tooled black morocco.

Vinograd, Venice 96; Haberman, Bomberg 91; Jacob Dienstag, Mishneh Torah le-ha-Rambam (A bibliography of the editions). In: Studies in Jewish bibliography, history and literature in honor of I.Edward Kiev. ed. Charles Berlin, New York, 1972, no. 7; Raphael Nathan Nata Rabbinovicz, Ma'amar al hadpasat ha-talmud, 1877, pp.15-16.

Maimonides (1135-1204), also referred to as Rambam (from the acronym "Rabbi Moses Ben Maimon"), was arguably, the most illustrious Jewish figure of the middle ages.  A rabbinic authority, legal codifier, philosopher, and royal physician, Maimonides was born in Cordoba, Spain.  Fleeing from Islamic persecution as a young man, Maimonides eventually settled in Egypt where he was active as the head of the community until his death.  His literary output was prodigous, yet it is clear that with all the many masterworks he composed, his magnum opus was the halakhic compendium, the Mishneh Torah. In this work, Maimonides set for himself the task of classifying by subject matter the entire talmudic and post-talmudic halakhic literature in a systematic manner never before attempted in the history of Judaism. The Mishneh Torah is divided into fourteen books, each representing a distinct category of the Jewish legal system.

The present edition is the first to include Migdal ‘Oz, the commentary by Shem Tov ibn Gaon, on the entirety of Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah (Migdal ‘Oz had previously appeared in the 1509 Constantinople edition, but only on one of the fourteen parts, Sefer Ahavah). It also includes the glosses of Abraham ben David of Posquieres, also known by the acronym RABAD (embedded within Migdal 'Oz), the Maggid Mishneh of Don Vidal de Tolosa and Hagahot Maimuniyyot by Meir ha-Kohen, disciple of Meir of Rothenburg. In addition, this copy contains the rare unnumbered introductory leaf by the editor, David ben Eliezer ha-Levi Pizzighettone of Ferrara. In this introduction, the editor present four examples of corrections made on his own initiative and the lengthy scholarly basis of his reasoning for doing so. This introduction has never been republished and noted Maimonides bibliographer Jacob Dienstag states that this leaf is missing from the majority of the copies of this edition that he examined.

Pizzighettone benefitted from the assistance of Jacob ben Haim ibn Adonijahu whose own prowess as editor would soon become evident with the publication of Bomberg’s second edition of the Rabbinic Bible, begun later the same year. Pizzeghettone, who also edited at least six volumes of the Talmud during his tenure in Bomberg’s employ, is the only major editor of that printing house who remained faithful to Judaism, unlike his colleagues Felix Pratensis, Jacob Hayim ibn Adonijah, Cornelio Adelkind, and Isaiah Parnas, all of whom eventually apostasized and became Christians.