Eliya Mizrahi on the Torah—Furth 1763, including the attached map. With an interesting stamp and note

Eliya Mizrahi on the Torah—Furth 1763, including the attached map. With an interesting stamp and note

Sefer Eliya Mizrachi on the Torah, with many approbations given to this edition. In this edition, Rashi’s commentary is printed in block letters and the Biur Mizrahi commentary in Rashi script. This commentary is the most important and central commentary on Rashi's commentary on the Torah, by Rabbi Eliyahu Mizrachi (Ra'am). In Parshat Masei (page 211b) is a map of Israel, in which the east faces upward. This map, first printed in the year 1717, is drawn primarily using straight lines and in the shapes of squares and rectangles. It is the first Hebrew map ever printed, printed by Itzik in Fürth 1763. Partially missing copy – [2], 240 pages (originally 241). 33 cm. Tape on the back of the title page with light damage to the text of the endorsements. The title page is taped along the side to the blank first page, and the binding is wrapped and reinforced with tape. Stains, generally good condition.

The title page has a stamp in Latin script: “Leo Mendelson Hamburg.” An inscription explains that this is the son of Rabbi Moshe Mendelson of Hamburg, and later explains the way in which the book was passed from father to son over the generations, via Dr. Haim Yitzhak Bar. In the body of the work is a long handwritten note. The father of the owner of this copy:

Rabbi Moshe Mendelson (the Pnei Tevel, 1782-1861), was the son of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Frankfurter. He was a student of Rabbi Naftali Hertz Wiesel, a sage of Hamburg very proficient in grammar and a poet. He worked against the Reform movement in Hamburg in 1829. He wrote an introduction to the machzors of Altona and published articles in collected works. Also wrote Metziyat HaAretz HaHadasha, Shushan Edut, and more. He wanted to translate his nephew’s work (Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch) to Hebrew, but the Rashar Hirsch refused.