Nahalat Avot (Inheritance of the Fathers), Isaac Abrabanel: Constantinople, 1505

116 leaves (10 x 7 ¼ in.; 251 x 188 mm). COLLATION: 1-10⁸, 11⁸, 12⁸, 12¹⁰, 13¹⁰=116 leaves*, double leaf signatures; modern foliation in pencil, FOLIATION: 1-80, 82-88, 81, 92-93, 89-91, 94-116. Title mounted; ff. 2-9 remargined and strengthened. Lightly stained, though affecting text on ff. 28-40, 102-110. Some worming at gutter with tape repairs ff. 60-78. Owners’ notations and stamp on title. Modern half-calf.

*[N.B. There are 14 quires numbered 1-11, 12, 12, 13. The first 12 quires (quires 1-11, and the first of two quires marked 12) comprise 8 leaves each and the last two quires (the second of two quires marked 12, and quire 13) comprise 10 leaves each. Quires 11 and the first quire 12 are misbound. The modern foliation in pencil correctly places the misbound pages and may be relied upon.]

Vinograd Constantinople, 12.

DON ISAAC ABRABANEL’S COMMENTARY ON PIRKEI AVOT  

Written in response to a request from his youngest son, Samuel, then a student in Salonika. In the introduction, Abrabanel bemoans the condition of Sephardic Jewry, whom he observed in Corfu, noting their spiritual deterioration and their ignoring of eternal values to pursue transitory temporal gain, something he considered an even greater misfortune than all their other tribulations. Abrabanel follows the same format in Nahalat Avot as in his other commentaries, beginning each section with a series of questions, and then answering them in the ensuing discussion. Here too, Abrabanel is lengthy and frequently digresses; his wanderings, however, are compensated for by interpretations that are often innovative, daring, and profound. The text of Pirkei Avot utilized by Abrabanel, as evidenced by his commentary, varies somewhat from the standard version of that work.