Maaseh Tuviah with Author’s Portrait. Venice, 1707.
One of the first known Jewish works on medicine, authored by Tuvia HaRofeh!
Maaseh Tuviah by Rabbi Tobias HaCohen is an illustrated work presenting a wealth of information regarding diseases, remedies, and the arts of medicine and surgery. The book also includes a comprehensive and riveting philosophical discussion of the Upper Spheres and planets, which reveal that the universe is parallel to the human anatomy and ailments.
This was among the first medical books authored by a Jewish physician, and it is most commended and acclaimed for its original content and breathtaking illustrations.
Leaf 106a features a full-page anatomical sketch of the human body. In this illustration, the author compares the human body to a multistory building, and it is one of the most famous illustrations in Jewish literature.
The author Rabbi Tobias HaCohen (1652-1729) was a prominent 17th-18th century Polish-Jewish physician who studied medicine in the University of Padua. He engaged in frequent polemics with Christian students regarding Judaism and Christianity. Upon hearing his Christian colleagues’ aspersions against the Jewish faith, he authored this work to prove that although the Jewish people remain in exile, they possess great wisdom.
Complete copy including all 3 title pages, the author’s portrait, all illustrations, poems and the last leaf with a censorship stamp from Padua in Italian.
Venice, 1707. First edition. Pages: [6], 158 leaves.
Page Size: 22 cm. Good condition. New binding.
Stefansky Sifrei Yesod #513
Provenance: Yechezkel Toporowitch Collection
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