JUDEO-ARABIC COMMENTARY ON SEDER NEZIKIN (ORDER OF TORTS) OF THE MISHNAH, RABBI MOSES MAIMONIDES, [YEMEN: 14TH CENTURY]

JUDEO-ARABIC COMMENTARY ON SEDER NEZIKIN (ORDER OF TORTS) OF THE MISHNAH, RABBI MOSES MAIMONIDES, [YEMEN: 14TH CENTURY]

76 of about 526 pages (10 3/8 x 7 3/4 in.; 265 x 195 mm) (collation indeterminate) on parchment; modern pagination in pencil in Arabic numerals in upper-outer corners; midpoints of original quires marked on pp. 10-11, 28-29, 34-35, 40-41, 54-55, 66-67, 74-75 (quires probably originally of 10 folios each); written in Yemenite square (tractate names and chapter numbers) and semi-cursive (text body) scripts in dark brown ink; single-column text of twenty-two lines per page; ruled in blind (remnants of prickings frequently visible in outer edges); justification of lines via dilation or contraction of final letters, abbreviation, insertion of space fillers, and slanted inscription of final words (producing a “carpet fringes” effect; see p. 17); later headers added on pp. 3, 5, 19-21, 23, 25, 27, 32-33, 37, 39, 45, 47, 49; no catchwords; corrections in hand of primary scribe; episodic addition of marginalia or vocalization. Enlarged tractate titles and chapter numbers; Tetragrammaton generally represented via three yodin in a triangular formation with a kamats underneath; scribal flourishes at the end of Tractate Eduyot on p. 59. Slight scattered staining; intermittent dampstaining (see, esp., pp. 39, 57-58); some ink chipped or worn; gutters periodically reinforced; parchment leaves cockled, at times with short tears in their outer edges and small, natural holes in their centers; imperfections in lower edges of pp. 9-13; upper-outer corners of pp. 45-49 and lower margins of pp. 61-62 lacking. Modern brown buckram; paper ticket with manuscript name on spine; shelf mark lettered in gilt on spine; modern paper flyleaves and pastedowns; Sassoon bookplate on pastedown of upper board.

One of only three known copies of a significant portion of Maimonides’ original Judeo-Arabic commentary on Seder nezikin from before the fifteenth century.

While Seder mo‘ed of the Mishnah concerns itself with the ritual laws of Jewish feasts and fasts,  Seder nezikin is focused largely on civil and commercial law. Still, a significant portion of this Order touches on issues of Jewish belief (Perek helek of Sanhedrin) and ethics (Avot), and it is here that Maimonides composed two of his most famous mishnaic “introductions.” The present lot is a copy of a significant fragment of Rambam’s commentary on Seder nezikin, including part of the introduction to Perek helek. Only three substantial pre-fifteenth-century copies of the Judeo-Arabic commentary on Seder nezikin are known to have come down to us, and of these the present lot is the sole example in private hands and the sole example on parchment.

Contents

pp. 1-15: Bava kamma 8:1b-10:10;

pp. 16-20: Bava metsi‘a’ah 1:1-8a;

pp. 21-22: Bava batra 9:5b-7a;

pp. 23-24: Sanhedrin 1:3b-5a;

pp. 25-26: Sanhedrin 8:7b-9:3a;

pp. 27-36: Sanhedrin 9:6b-10:3a (probably one leaf lacking from the introduction to Perek helek between pp. 30-31 and five lacking between pp. 32-33);

pp. 37-44: Shevu‘ot 5:1b-6:7a;

pp. 45-46: Eduyot 2:4b-5a;

pp. 47-48: Eduyot 3:4b-7a;

pp. 49-59: Eduyot 7:4b-8:7;

pp. 59-60: Avodah zarah 1:1-3a;

pp. 61-72: Avodah zarah 2:5b-4:4a;

pp. 73-76: Avot 1:17b-2:6a.

Literature

Joseph Kafih (trans.), Mishnah im peirush rabbeinu mosheh ben maimon, vol. 4 (Jerusalem: Mossad Harav Kook, 1965), 5-6.

David Solomon Sassoon, Ohel Dawid: Descriptive Catalogue of the Hebrew and Samaritan Manuscripts in the Sassoon Library, London, vol. 2 ([Oxford]: Oxford University Press; London: Humphrey Milford, 1932), 1075 (no. 1127).