Arba Turim. Soncino, 1490. Incunabula. Especially Rare Set

Arba Turim. Soncino, 1490. Incunabula. Especially Rare Set

Sefer Arba Turim L'Rabbeinu Ya'akov Ben Asher (-the Ro"sh). Including: Orach Chaim, Yoreh Deah, Even HaEzer and Choshen Mishpat. Printed in Soncino, Italy, by Shlomo ben Moshe Soncino, in 1490. Especially rare. Almost completely full set. All four parts including 350 leaves; lacking only about 12 leaves (see below). Early introductions.

Incunabula edition of the four parts of the Tur, printed by the renowned early printer Shlomo Soncino. This set is one of his masterpieces.

Copy that was printed in the incunabula period, one of the first Hebrew books to reach the printing press.

As was customary in this early period, a short time after the invention of the printing press, the sefer was printed without a title page, without pagination, and without a protective leaf. It was printed in two columns, and obviously without commentaries around it, and they had not yet been written ... The book was printed only about 150 years after Rabbeinu Ya'akov ben Asher, the 'Ba'al HaTurim' wrote his renowned work. Scholars of incunabula researched the printing details of this major work, and they determined that it was printed c. 1490.

All books from the incunabula period are especially rare, certainly a halachic work such as this one, that was studied and used by many as a work of practical halachah, such that these books were generally worn out already by an earlier period, and lost over the more than 500 years from the time they were printed until now. Each one of the four sefarim is especially rare, and all the more so a set with all four parts.

Specifications of these four parts:

Orach Chaim: 83 of 94 leaves. Lacking 8 leaves at the beginning, including the author's preface, an index for the simanim of the sefer and the first four pages at the beginning of the book, along with a lack of four leaves from siman 52 through siman 59, page 8a simainim 396-406, and the last leaf, which includes just a small passage.

Yoreh Deah: Complete, 80 leaf.

Even HaEzer: Complete, 50 leaf.

Choshen Mishpat: 124 and a half a leaf (the last leaf has only one of the columns - half the leaf), a leaf and a half is lacking from the end of the sefer. Approximately 30 cm.

Aharon Freiman, Otzar L'Melachat HaDefus HaRishonah B'Meah HaChamesh Esreh. Jerusalem, 1968.

Offenberg, A.K .: ‘Hebrew Incunabula in Public Collections 62.

All the leaves of the sefer have undergone artistic restoration and margin completions. Some of the leaves have white margin completions. Other leaves have restored worming marks that blemish the letters in the text. Still other leaves have restored tears with damage to the text.

Orach Chaim is in moderate condition.

Yoreh Deah is in moderate condition.

Even HaEzer is in poor condition. Choshen Mishpat is in moderate condition.

Specifications and photographs will be sent upon request.

Orach Chaim, Yoreh Deah and Choshem Mishpat are inthree matching leather bindings. EvenHaEzer is bound in a different leather binding.