First Edition Bomberg Talmud Bavli – Tractate Sotah; Venice, 1520
Complete volume of tractate Sotah from the first edition Talmud Bavli brought to print by Daniel Bomberg.
Published in Venice, between the years 1520 – 1523.
Piskei Tosfos was published here on page 50 for the first time ever. Peirush Hamishneh L’Harambam is included on pages 51-53 and was included in Talmud for the first time in this edition as well.
Owner’s signature on the title page signed in rounded Spanish script: Yehoshua ben Chananya
Stefansky, Hebrew Classics 41 .
53 leaves | 33 cm | Rounded bottom margins | Restored margins on several pages | New leather binding | good condition
Bomberg Edition of Talmud Bavli Published in Venice, 1520 – 1523
The first complete set of Talmud Bavli was published in Venice, in the printing press of Daniel Bomberg, between the years 1520 and 1523. The printing was done in a high-quality fashion and remained almost completely clear of censorship faults.
This edition remains the crowning glory of Talmudic editions, and has left its mark on all following editions. The page layout as it was organized here, with Rash"I on the right side and Tosfot on the left with four wide lines on top, remains in this format until this very day.
The exact text of Rash"I and Tosfos are precisely recorded and many of
the Rishonim’s treatises were published here for the first time. Peirush
HaMishnayos was included here for the first time as well, and has since
become a standard in most Talmudic volumes.
Rabbi Nosson Nota Rabinowitz, an expert in Talmudic editions and author
of Dikdukei Sofrim, remarked: "In its form and appearance, this Talmud is
complete in its beauty and splendor. The paper is beautiful, and the letters
are black and clear, and the sheets between Rash"I and Tosfos, and the
Gemara are wide. All of the editions that followed it did not reach its beauty."
