SEDER ZERA'IM OF THE MISHNAH, VENICE: DANIEL BOMBERG, [1543-1544]

92 folios (12 5/8 x 8 7/8 in.; 322 x 225 mm) (collation: i-x8, xi6 [xi7-8 = ff. 87-88 (blanks) removed], xii6) on paper. Ten woodcut foliate frames at the start of each of tractate (ff. 2r, 12r, 21v, 34v, 47v, 60v, [65v], 73r, 78v, 83r); tapering text on ff. 5v, 21r, 34r, 35r, 54r, 78v, 85v; manuscript correction on f. 17r; printed poem on f. [89r]; pen trial on f. 94v. Slight scattered staining; closely cropped pages, sometimes affecting the headline; minor worming beginning at the rear and diminishing toward the front of the volume, usually affecting only individual letters; more serious worming in the outer columns of ff. 49v-61r, 62r-70v, mostly repaired; small wormhole in gutter near foot diminishing through f. 58v; short tear in lower edge of f. 2; small puncture on f. 21 repaired; light damage in outer edge near foot of ff. 93-94 repaired; slight dampstaining along gutter on ff. 93-94. Modern vellum over board, very slightly scuffed, with gilt-tooled foliate borders on upper board; title, place, and (incorrect) date lettered in gilt on spine; remnants of dry glue on lower board; blue-speckled paper edges; modern marbled paper flyleaves and pastedowns.

Seder zera‘im (The Order of Seeds) – according to the traditional placement, the first of the six orders of the Mishnah – contains eleven tractates focused mainly on the agricultural laws that apply in the Land of Israel: Pe’ah (Corner; ff. 2a-11b) discusses different types of gifts to the poor, especially the corner of the field; Demai (ff. 12a-21b), doubtfully tithed produce; Kil’ayim (Mixed Species; ff. 21b-34a), forbidden mixtures of plants, animals, or fibers; Shevi‘it (Seventh [Year]; ff. 34b-47a), the laws of the sabbatical year and the remission of debts; Terumot (Heave Offerings; ff. 47b-60b), that portion of produce set aside for the priest; Ma‘aserot (Tithes; ff. 60b-[65b]), that portion of produce set aside for the Levite; Ma‘aser sheni (Second Tithe; ff. [65b]-72b), that portion of produce set aside for the grower’s consumption in Jerusalem; Hallah (ff. 73a-78b), that portion of dough set aside for the priest; Orlah (Uncircumcised; ff. 78b-83a), the law prohibiting the fruit of an “uncircumcised” tree, i.e., one within the first three years after its planting; and Bikkurim (First Fruits; ff. 83a-86b), the ceremony of bringing the first fruits to Jerusalem and offering them to the priests. Only Berakhot (Benedictions), on blessings recited over food as well as various liturgical laws, was commented upon in the Babylonian Talmud; Bomberg therefore chose to print it separately. All of the tractates included in this volume are accompanied by the commentaries of Maimonides (as translated from the Judeo-Arabic original) and the Tosafist Rabbi Samson ben Abraham of Sens (late twelfth-early thirteenth centuries), though Rabbi Isaac ben Melchizedek of Siponto’s (ca. 1090-1160) commentary replaces the latter on ff. 85a-86b. Maimonides’ introduction to the order Zera‘im, with a preface by its translator Rabbi Judah ben Solomon al-Harizi (1165-1225), appears on ff. 89a-94a. Two notes on collation:

First, scholars have shown that Bomberg’s press occasionally backdated volumes from his third edition (1543-1549) by “forging” the title page to look like an authentic first- (1519/20-1523) or second- (1526-1539) edition imprint. Such is the case with the present volume, which actually comes from the third edition even though its title page bears the misleading date 10 Marheshvan [5]221 (October 11, 1521). Because the i’s in the signature line are not dotted, it must be that this tractate was published sometime between the start of the third edition in 5303 (1543) and the middle of 5304 (1544), when the Bomberg press introduced the tittle into the signatures of its imprints.

Second, the third edition of Seder zera‘im, like the second edition (1528) before it, included two blank leaves at the end of the eleventh quire (ff. [87-88]) to separate the main text from Maimonides’ introduction. These are lacking here, with the consequence that the foliation of the pages skips from 86 to 89.

Provenance

Hevrat Ohavei Torah [of Florence?] (ff. 1a, 2a, 19a, 32a, 39a, 47a, 51a, 62a, 70a, 85a, 94a)

Literature

A.M. Habermann, Ha-madpis daniyyel bombirgi u-reshimat sifrei beit defuso (Safed: The Museum of Printing Art, 1978), 34 (no. 48).

Vinograd, Venice 68