Faksimile-Ausgabe des Mischnacodex Kaufmann A. 50: mit Genehmigung der Ungarischen Akademie der Wissenschaften in Budapest (Facsimile Edition of the Mishna Codex Kaufmann A. 50: with Permission of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest)
Jerusalem: NP, 1969. Second edition. Hardcover. Two volumes, large quarto. [2] pp. text, 571 pages of Hebrew manuscript facsimiles. Title page in German and Hebrew. Publisher's red cloth, lettered in gilt. Light sunning and rubbing to the spines, text fine.
Second facsimile edition of the Codex Kaufmann, the oldest of the three extant complete manuscripts of the Mishna, the primary foundational document of Rabbinic Judaism, redacted ca. 200 CE. Likely of Italian origin (10th-11th cent.), the vocalized manuscript contains comments, most of which are emendations, in several hands. "The Kaufmann codex is undoubtendly the oldest complete Mishna text and contains the best readings, even though it does not seem as faithful as the Cambridge codex in preserving the Palestinian recension. Hence the Kaufmann codex must now be regarded as the basic text of all scientific editions... Kaufmann acquired the manuscript in 1896 after all sorts of difficulties, and he gave expression to his great joy in his own "Psalm of David" which he wrote in his well-known violet ink on the flyleaf in the front part of the manuscript" (HAS).
The Austrian scholar David Kaufmann (1852-1899) attended the rabbinical seminary in Breslau between 1877 and 1887; he received his doctorate at Leipzig for a dissertation on the philosophy of religion of Sa'adiah Gaon. A scholar of unusually wide and thorough knowledge, Kaufmann was a prolific writer who made important contributions to the study of medieval Jewish philosophy, along with the history of religion and the history of Jewish art. His rich library which contained important manuscripts, incunabula, and genizah fragments is now owned by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
The original facsimile edition published at The Hague by Martinus Nijhoff in 1929 appeared in a larger format and was limited to 200 copies. Very good+. Item #49739
Price: $650.00