SEFER ABUDARHAM (COMMENTARY ON JEWISH PRAYER), RABBI DAVID ABUDARHAM, CONSTANTINOPLE: ASTRUC DE TOULON, 1513

The second edition of a classic commentary on the Jewish liturgy.

Astruc de Toulon, a Provencal Jew who had worked at the Ibn Nahmias firm in 1510-1511, began renting the press from Samuel ben David Ibn Nahmias in 1513, printing a number of books in partnership with Samuel Rikomin or on his own account intermittently until 1530. The present lot, Peirush ha-berakhot ve-ha-tefillot (or, as it has come to be known more popularly, Sefer abudarham), is the second edition of Rabbi David Abudarham’s influential treatise on Jewish prayer. Much of the text of the colophon appearing here is based on that of the editio princeps (Lisbon, 1489; see lot 56), with the year and name of the printer updated to reflect the book’s changed circumstances. According to bibliographic scholar Meir Benayahu, Rabbi Moses Maimonides’ responsa (see lot 211) were printed together with this edition of Sefer abudarham and (at least occasionally) appended thereto.