Mishnayot ‘im Peirush le-ha-Rambam (Mishnah, with the Commentary of Maimonides), Moses ben Maimon (Maimonides), Naples: Joshua Solomon Soncino, 11 Iyar 5252 (8 May 1492)

355 (of 356) leaves in two volumes (vol. I: 14 x 9 in.; 356 x 230 mm; vol. II: 14 1/4 x 9 1/2 in.; 370 x 240 mm) lacking only the initial blank, absent in nearly all copies, and with the the first page of text replaced in facsimile. With numerous metalcut initials and 47 woodcut diagrams, further numerous spaces left for the manuscript supply of diagrams. collation: 1^{7 of 8 (f. 1 lacking; f. 2 in facs.)}, 2⁸, 3¹⁰, 4-5⁸, 6⁶, 7-12⁸, 13-14⁶; 15-18⁸, 19¹⁰, 20-24⁸ , 25⁶, 26⁸ , 27¹⁰; 28-44⁸, 45⁶= 355 (of 356) leaves. (N.B. vol. II begins with 20²). Modern foliation in pencil: 2-356. vol. I: first two quires laid to size; numerous other leaves with marginal repairs, often to corners; vol. II: first dozen leaves strengthened at gutter and remargined, several other leaves with marginal repairs, often to corners; f. 254-5 inlaid; final leaf inlaid with loss of text at upper left. Moderately stained and soiled mostly in first and final quires. Frequent Hebrew marginalia and manicules. Modern paneled morocco, gilt-stamp titles on spine.

Vinograd Naples 24; Offenberg 92; Goff Heb-82; Hain 11243; Steinschneider 1982; Thes A73; Iakerson 60; BMC XIII 59 (C.50.e.6). 

First edition of the full mishnah, the compilation of Oral Law gathered and arranged in six "orders" (sedarim) by Rabbi Judah the Prince in the late second century C.E. The commentary on the Mishnah was the earliest of Maimonides' major writings, begun when he was in his early twenties, and intended to serve as an introduction to the Talmud. Maimonides completed the work in 1168 CE, at the age of thirty. It was originally written in Judeo-Arabic (transliterated Arabic written in Hebrew characters) and was later translated into Hebrew to make it accessible to a broader Jewish audience. Each order of the Mishnah is introduced with an extensive preface, and his general introduction relates the full history of the Oral Law and includes expositions on eschatology, the afterlife, ethics, and Jewish dogma. 

This first printed edition utilizes numerous simple diagrams, many of which illustrate varying interpretations of the laws of eruvin, establishing an iconography which would be closely followed in later printed editions of the Babylonian Talmud. Each of the six orders was printed as a separate compositional unit. The colophon appears after the fifth unit (Kodashim), which was printed last, rather than at the end of the sixth and final order (Toharot). There, Joshua Solomon Soncino mentions two others involved in the printing of the Mishnah, Joseph ibn Piso, and Abraham Talmid, probably financial backers.