Novellae and in-depth studies on the Rambam’s Mishneh Torah, by Rabbi Yehuda Rosanes of Constantinople. With important handwritten glosses. Constantinople 1731.
Specifications: [3], 2-27, 80, 112, 46, 89 leaves, without the index leaves which were printed a year later and only added to some of the copies. 30 cm. First edition.
Background: The book ‘Mishneh LaMelech’ earned its place in the talmudic literature as one of the basic scholarly books, delving deeply into the words of the Rambam. The author was one of the great scholars of Constantinople of his generation, and the Sephardi sages admired and revered him to the extent that they referred to him as “Rabbi Tana.”
Unique Features: Throughout the book’s pages, there are some thirty glosses in Sephardi handwriting, most of them slightly cut off and signed with the initials: Yavi”n.
The signature of Rabbi Aryeh Leib Hershler is on the title page and the leaf before it. He was a dayan and Av Beit Din in Jerusalem [for information about him refer to: Toldot Chachmei Yerushalayim part 3 page 253], with several glosses in Ashkenazi handwriting, most likely the handwriting of the aforementioned Aryeh Leib.
Condition: Fine. The book’s leaves are in very fine condition with the exception of reinforcements on the first two and last two leaves (the reinforcements are primarily in the white margins). Simple, blemished binding.