Physical
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First edition of commentary. [2], 105 ff., 205:170 mm., blue tint paper, nice margins, usual age and damp staining, small hole in final affecting several words. A good copy bound in modern boards, rubbed. |
Detailed
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Precise definitions of technical terms appearing in Hebrew philosophical and scientific literature, particularly in Maimonides’ Guide of the Perplexed, by R. Menahem ben Abraham Bonafos of Perpignan (also called Bonafoux Abraham of Perpignan; late 14th–early 15th century). The author, a philosophical writer who resided in France, is remembered for his Sefer ha-Gedarim (Book of Definitions). The full title for this edition is Sefer ha-Gedarim, or Leksikon fon visenshaftn. First printed in Salonika in 1567 with some notes by Isaac ben Moses ibn Arollo, this edition is distinguished by a thorough commentary and additions by Isaac Satanow. The text is organized alphabetically in two columns and set in square letters. At the bottom of the page in rabbinic letters in a single column is Satanow’s glosses. The entries under each letter are divided into six sections according to the following classification: ethics and politics, logic, metaphysics, physics, mathematics and astronomy, and medicine.
Isaac Satanow (1732–1804) was born in Satanov, Podolia. He settled in Berlin in 1771 or 1772, where he served as the director of the printing press of the Hevrat Hinnukh Ne'arim (Society for the Education of the Youth). Among the most prolific of the early Haskalah writers, he did not restrict himself to any particular literary field, but wrote in most of those genres used by the later Haskalah writers. Satanow demonstrated a wealth of knowledge of the Hebrew language, ranking as a model stylist throughout the Haskalah period. He ascribed several of his works to earlier writers, and consequently used fictitious names for the authors of the recommendations for his own books and of their forewords. His books include Sefer ha-Shorashim or Hebraeisch-Deutsches Lexicon, one of his major works, which was a Hebrew-German dictionary and thesaurus in two parts; a number of books of liturgy, Tefillah mi-Kol ha-Shanah al Pi Kelalei ha-Dikduk (1785), Haggadah shel Pesah (1785); and Selihot (1785); as well as Mishlei Asaf and Zemirot Asaf (4 vols., 1789–1802), collections of proverbs in imitation of the Book of Proverbs. (Satanow adopted the pseudonym "Asaf" from the acrostic for "Itzik Satanow.") In the last, his best-known work, the peak of his imitative ability is displayed, and, at the same time, the finest expression of his own sentiments and thoughts. The work, attributed to the biblical Asaph son of Berechiah, is written in the style of Proverbs and Psalms. |
