Psalms with the Commentary of Rabbi Solomon ben Shem Tov Atiah, Venice: [Marco Antonio Giustiniani,] 1549

Psalms with the Commentary of Rabbi Solomon ben Shem Tov Atiah, Venice: [Marco Antonio Giustiniani,] 1549

The present lot is an extensive commentary on the book of Psalms by Rabbi Solomon ben Shem Tov Atiah, a resident of Jerusalem. On the title page, the author delineates his approach, which is partly philological, partly exegetical. He explains the difficult words in each verse, including those that might derive from more than one Hebrew root; cites the work of other commentators like Rashi, Radak, and Ibn Ezra, as well as the sages of antiquity; and has recourse to the derekh ha-emet (path of truth)—i.e., Kabbalah—when parsing some passages. Importantly, he observes that Psalms as a book is not organized in chronological order, yet despite that he intends to demonstrate the internal integrity of each psalm unto itself. 

Interestingly, the verso of the title page contains Atiah’s brief autobiographical reflections on his upbringing and studies in Salonika, how he came to write the commentary, and the many rabbis and philanthropists “whom I saw and knew and who lived at the time” in Salonika, Adrianople, Constantinople, Egypt, Ferrara, Venice, Padua, Bologna, Mantua, Ancona, Verona, Rome, and Cremona. On the list are such luminaries as Rabbis Jacob Ibn Habib, Joseph Taitatsak, Samuel de Medina, Joseph ben Lev, Joseph Ibn Verga, Solomon Alkabetz, Joseph Caro, Elijah Mizrahi, and Jacob Beirav, as well as many lesser-known figures, and a group of those who, like him, immigrated from Salonika to the Holy Land.

Provenance

Joshua Segal (f. [1r])

Abraham Foa (ff. [1r], 65v)

Baruch Samuel Sanguinetti of Reggio di Lombardia (ff. 13r, 18v, 31r, 39v, 45v, 65r)

Censorship

Laurentius Franguellus, 1575 (f. 65r)

Luigi da Bologna, June 1599 (f. 65v)

Physical Description

67 folios (11 x 7 7/8 in.; 278 x 197 mm) (collation: i-x⁶, xi⁷) on paper (final blank removed). Title within ornate architectural frame; scrolling woodcut initial word panel on f. 2r; extensive underlining on f. [1v]; episodic marginalia; occasional expurgation (words now visible). Slight scattered staining; some dampstaining, dog-earing, and creasing; minor worming, usually affecting only individual letters; several leaves strengthened along gutter; tape repairs on ff. [1v], 65v and in lower edges of ff. 6, 14-22; repairs in upper-outer corners of ff. 13-17; ff. 42-45 loose at head. Modern blind-tooled brown leather, corners rounded, with some wear to edges; spine in six compartments with raised bands; title, place, and date lettered in gilt on spine; some wear along spine, especially at head; speckled edges; modern paper flyleaves and pastedowns.

Literature

Abraham Meir Habermann, Ha-madpis cornelio adelkind u-beno daniyyel u-reshimat ha-sefarim she-nidpesu al yedeihem (Jerusalem: Rubin Mass, 1980), 47-48 (no. 53).

Vinograd, Venice 381

The Present Copy (https://hebrewbooks.org/45697)