The Mishneh Torah
Joseph Ibn Gabir, who while knowing Arabic was able to
study the Commentary on the Mishnah, but knowing no Hebrew was
unable to read the Mishneh Torah, suggested to Maimonides that he produce an
Arabic edition of it. Maimonides responded:
If you want to study my work you will have to learn
Hebrew little by little. It is not so difficult, as the book is written in
an easy style ... I do not intend to produce an Arabic edition ... as the
work would lose its specific color. How could I do this when I would like
to translate my Arabic writings into the holy tongue!
Maimonides had a profound love for the Hebrew language, a special affection for the
one great work he wrote in it, and an unbounded regard for its subject, the
law. The Mishneh Torah is his magnum opus. Except for the first
printing in Rome, of which only a few copies are extant, the Library has
virtually every important edition.
Moses Maimonides's Magnum Opus, the Mishneh Torah,
the first comprehensive code of Jewish Law, was published no less than six
times in the fifteenth century, four editions on the Iberian Peninsula and
two in Italy. This second Italian edition, which is also the second book
printed by Gershom Soncino, was completed March 23, 1490. The Library's
very fine two-volume copy is open to the eleventh of the fourteen books of
the work, which deals with criminal law (Moses Maimonides, Mishneh Torah,
Soncino, 1490. Hebraic Section, Library of
Congress Photo).
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The Mishneh Torah Soncino, 1490, edition is the
second production of the press of Gershom Soncino. He writes that scholars
and leaders implored him to publish Maimonides's great work, offering him help and protection. "So I decided to search
the great libraries for a fine manuscript copy ... May the Blessed One in
his great mercies, help me complete this work." The work was completed
"on the first day of Nissan, 5250, in Soncino, in Lombardy, under the
sovereign, the Duke of Milan. Praise and glory to God." The Library's
very fine copies preserve the beauty and excellence of the typographical
artistry of the master printer.
Sources: Abraham J. Karp, From
the Ends of the Earth: Judaic Treasures of the Library of Congress,
(DC: Library of Congress,
1991).
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