Very Rare Kushta Print
“Canizal” Commentaries on Rash”i
Kushta – Constantinople, 1525
Four early commentaries on the commentary of Rash’i on the Torah.
1] Commentary by Rabbi Yakov Canizal
2] Commentary of Rabbi Shmuel Almoshnino
3] Commentary of Rabbi Moshe Albildah
4]Commentary of Rabbi Ahron son of Rabbi Gershon Abu-El-Rabi
On the front page of the sefer appears the title: Perushim leRashi Zt”l [Commentaries to Rashi Zt”l]. However the sefer is commonly called ‘Canizal’ probably since it is the largest and most important of the four commentaries in this collection.
The book ‘
Canizal‘ is one of the most important and rare works printed in Kushta at the beginning of the sixteenth century. The rarity of a complete sefer is exceedingly rare as of an inconbula. It has been decades since a complete copy has appeared at auctions. (due to its rarity, the book was not reprinted for 450 years and was reprinted only nowadays).
The authors of the commentaries were from the sages of the generation of the exile from Spain and before, but almost no biographical details are known about them, it seems that the commentaries of Rabbi Yaakov Canizal were written between the years 1486 – 1506
.
Kushta – Constantinople, [5285] c. 1525. Page count: Breishis-Shemos 88 leaves,
Vayikra-Devarim 24, 23-72 leaves. Size: 26 cm. incorrect pagination.
Condition: a complete and beautiful copy, on the first eighteen pages water stains, on the last seven pages slight restorations in the corners of the upper margins.
Bibliography: Yaari, Kushta 101: Mahelman, Gnuzot Sforim, Jerusalem 1976, p. 105: Yodlov, Ginzei Israel 633: the above, Several title pages to the book of Perushim LeRashi, Kushta Press, Alei Sefer, 17, 1992- 1993, pp. 137-138; Y. Rivkind, Dikdukei Sefarim, Jubilee book in honor of A. Marks, 1950, pp.409-410; Y. Heker, Kushta Prints in the Sixteenth Century, Areshet, 5, 1972, p. 480 no. 101.
The “Canizal” is an extremely rare collection of super-commentaries on Rashi, and acquiring a complete copy is considered a major achievement in the world of rare books. the famed Bookseller David Frankel, from Husyatin-New York (active late 19th century early 20th century, ) described obtaining this work as one of the highlights of his career. He emphasized its rarity by comparing it to some of the oldest and rarest incunabulas.
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