Sefer ha-Tashbetz, Simeon ben Zemah Duran, Amsterdam: Naphtali Herz Levi Rofe: 1738-1741

342 leaves (12 ¼ x 7 7/8 in.; 312 x 200 mm). Four parts in one volume (fourth part comprising Hut ha-Meshulash further divided into three sections). Main title within engraved architectural border; divisional title in ornamental woodcut frame featuring lions, foliage and crown; two divisonal titles in typographical borders. FOLIATION: [11], 91, 69 [1], 68 [1] [1], 36 [2], 39-83 [1], 85-101 [1] =342 leaves (NB: foliation given in Vinograd is erroneous). First title with owners’ inscriptions on recto and verso; library inkstamps on title page, and first and last pages of each part. Lightly browned and stained. Contemporary, gilt-tooled mottled “fish-skin” style, vellum; worn. Rebacked.

See Dan and and Gita Yardeni, “The ‘Tashbez’ by R. Shimon b. Zemah Duran; Amsterdam 1739-1742,” in Alei Sefer, No. 10 (June 1982), pp. 119-132. 

Simeon ben Zemah Duran (1361-1444), a native of the island of Majorca, often referred to by the acronym RaSHBaTZ (or alternatively as “the TaSHBeTZ” ) fled to Algeria in the year 1391 in order to escape anti-Jewish riots in Spain. Duran’s collected responsa remained unpublished for nearly three centuries until they were assembled and brought to press by Meir Crescas. The various dates on the different sectional title pages in this work present a conundrum for bibliographers. At least part of the riddle may be solved by the suggestion that the printers originally meant to issue the six various component sections of Sefer ha-Tashbetz, in two volumes, rather than one. Popular lore has suggested that in the merit of Duran’s respect for holy books, his own works were beautifully bound. Over the centuries, it has become traditional to bind this work in a “fish-skin” style, mottled vellum binding.