Auction 88 - Part I - Books, Manuscripts, Rabbinical Letters, Ceremonial Art

Sefer Biurim by Rabbi Natan Shapiro (Forgery) – Venice, 1593 – Map of Eretz Israel – Important Copy

Opening: $500
Sold for: $625
Including buyer's premium

Sefer Biurim, super-commentary to Rashi's commentary on the Torah, by R. Natan [Shapiro] of Horodna. Venice: Matteo Zanetti and Comino Presegno, [1593].
Includes several illustrations: map of Eretz Israel, Jacob's ladder, the Temple menorah, and more.
Although this work is attributed on the title page (and throughout the book) to R. Natan Shapiro, it is in fact a forgery. R. Natan's original super-commentary to Rashi's commentary on the Torah was published at the same time, by his son R. Yitzchak, under the title Imrei Shefer (Krakow and Lublin, 1590-1597). In his foreword to Imrei Shefer, R. Yitzchak declared Sefer Biurim to be a forgery. This book was then banned by the rabbis of Poland.
Inscriptions on the title page. Stamps on the title page and other leaves of "Uri Levi Feivel Margolies of Radom" (son-in-law of R. Aryeh Leib Zünz, d. 1830 – see enclosed material).
Ownership inscription at the foot of leaf 86: "Belongs to R. Leib Scheuer" (the Scheuer family of Frankfurt am Main was a prominent family of rabbis, yeshiva deans and community leaders in Germany. Several family members who served as rabbis in the 18th-19th centuries were named Leib).
180 leaves. 19 cm. Fair condition. Stains, including many dampstains and dark stains. Tears and open tears to title page and other leaves, slightly affecting title page border and several words of text, repaired in part with paper. Stamps. New binding.


PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.


Incunabula and Early Printed Books – 15th-17th Centuries
Incunabula and Early Printed Books – 15th-17th Centuries