Sefer Yam shel Shelomoh : 'al masekhet ve-dine Gitin ve-shemot anashim ve-nashim... 'im hakdamah / ספר ים של שלמה
Berlin: [Unidentified], 5521 (1760-61). First edition. Hardcover. Folio (12 3/4 x 8 1/4"). [1] leaf (Title), 84 leaves (Text). Contemporary quarter calf over spotted paper covered boards, with handwritten title label on spine. Raised bands. Publisher's engraved vignette on title. Decorative tailpiece.
First edition of "Yam Shel Shelomo" (the Seal of Solomon), Luria's major work of Halakha written on sixteen tractates of the Talmud; however, it is extant on only seven.
In it, the author analyzes key sugyot (passages) and decides between various authorities as to the practical halacha.
Luria, famously, objected to Isserles's method of presenting halakhic rulings without discussing their derivation. He wrote "Yam Shel Shlomo" to 'probe the depths of the halacha' and to clarify the process by which those halachot are reached.
Binding partly rubbed along edges. Head and tail of spine chipped. Title label partly missing. Contemporary previous owner's signature at upper margin of title page (not affecting lettering). Minor worming along fore-edge of pages 34 to 84 (not affecting lettering). Some offsetting and minor and sporadic foxing throughout. Text in Hebrew. Binding in overall fair, interior in good to good+ condition. fair to g+. Item #42108
About the author: Solomon ben Jehiel Luria (Rashal/Maharshal) (1510-1574) was a celebrated Jewish Talmudic commentator who served as rabbi and rosh yeshivah at Ostrog, Brisk, and Lublin. His halakhic rulings were independent and avoided pilpul and were generally accepted. Only a proportion of his work has been preserved, including his "Yam shel Shelomo" (The Seal of Solomon), and his "Hokhmat Shelomo" (The Wisdom of Solomon, 1582). His "Responsa" (1574/5) gives valuable insight into the culture of 16th-century Polish Jewry.
Price: $650.00