Sefer HaZikaron – Ferrara, 1555 – First Edition

Sefer HaZikaron – Ferrara, 1555 – First Edition
Sefer HaZikaron, applicable halachot, following the order of the Talmudic Tractates, by R. Yishmael HaKohen Tanuji of Tunis. Ferrara: Abraham ibn Usque, [1555]. First edition.
The present work comprises halachic summaries following the order of the Talmudic tractates (in a similar format to Sefer HaMordechai). The author, R. Yishmael HaKohen Tanuji, was a leading Torah scholar in Egypt (the family originated from Tunis). He composed Sefer HaZikaron in 1543, while still in Egypt, and later immigrated to Eretz Israel and settled in Jerusalem, where his son, R. Yehuda HaKohen Tanuji was born.
Usque's device at the center of the title page – illustration of an astrolabe set within a frame, with the verses: "But those who put their hope in G-d shall renew their vigor…", "I hoped, G-d, my soul hoped…". The printer's device also appears on the final page.
Colophon on penultimate leaf: "Completed… Today, Tuesday, 26th Av 1555… printed in the house of Avraham ibn Usque…".
The book contains handwritten glosses, deletions and emendations. Inscription on final leaf (beneath the printer's device): "Mine, Reuven Jabali".
Censor's signatures on final leaves, including the signature of the censor Dominico Irosolimitano – a Jewish convert to Christianity, who became a notable censor of Hebrew books in Italy. He compiled Sefer HaZikuk (Book of Expurgation) intended for Christian censors of Hebrew books.
[216] leaves. 20.5 cm. Good condition. Stains. Tears and minor worming to several leaves. Open tear to one leaf, slightly affecting text, repaired with paper. Inscriptions. Old binding, damaged.
Rare. The present edition was the only edition for centuries, until the work was reprinted in London in 1974 (in the 1974 edition, the publisher R. Shraga Dzialowski describes the scarcity of this book – he notes that it is to be found only in large libraries, and even prominent Torah scholars have not seen it or heard of it, and that most the copies of the first edition were destroyed during the burning of the Talmud).