Advertisement of the Printer Rabbi Yosef ben Rabbi Zalman Shneur of Furth for the Book "Torat Kohanim" which He had ...

Advertisement of the Printer Rabbi Yosef ben Rabbi Zalman Shneur of Furth for the Book "Torat Kohanim" which He had Published - 1691 - Rare and Unique! / Large, Impressive Copy of the Book Itself with an Original Wood and Leather Binding - 1692 - Rare!
The advertisement leaf
An advertisement leaf from the time the book "Torat Kohanim" was printed. The title: "Yismechu Ha'Rabbanim Ve'Yasisu Ha'Talmidim" (May the Rabbis rejoice and the students be pleased) and at the center of the leaf, an advertisement for the publication of the book. At the bottom of the leaf, the printer calls writers to print their books at his printing press "whose ink and paper are better than those of older printing presses".
There are several copies of the book "Mahari Ben Lev" Responsa, which was published that year, which the leaf was added to.
Unique item - an advertisement leaf over three hundred years old!
20 cm.
Condition: Good. Moth holes at the margins.

The book
Torat Kohanim - Shulchan Aruch Choshen Mishpat, with the two well-known commentaries on the Shukchan Aruch - "Me'irat Enayim" and "Siftei Cohen".
These two commentaries were printed here together for the first time around the text of the Shulchan Aruch.
The book is called "Torat Kohanim" since both commentators were Kohanim.
Before us is a copy in excellent condition, impressive in size and beauty, with wide margins and an original wood and leather binding.

The printer and the printing
The printer is Rabbi Yosef Ben Rabbi Zalman Shneur of Furth. On the title page, the printer writes that the commentaries were printed "at the insistent pleading of the rabbis of Poland and Ashkenazim and Sephardim". Indeed, this edition was approbated by the most prominent rabbis: Rabbi Shmuel ben Rabbi Zvi Hirsch of Krakow, Av Beit Din of Frankfurt, Rabbi Shmuel ben Rabbi Ro'I Shraga Feivush Av Beit Din of Furth, Rabbi Avraham ben Rabbi Shaul Brody of Prague, the Sephardic rabbis of Amsterdam: Rabbi Yitzchak Aboab and Rabbi Ya'akov Sasportas, Rabbi Moshe Yehuda Klonimus, Ha'Cohen Katz Av Beit Din of Amsterdam, the rabbis of Beit Din of Prague: Rabbi Binyamin Wolf Shapira, Rabbi Shmuel Hellman, Rabbi Uri Shraga Weibish, Rabbi Yosef ben Rabbi Zvi and Rabbi Shmuel ben Rabbi Gershom Brandes.

The printing of the book started in 1691 (according to the title page) yet was completed in 1692 (according to the colophon). At the end of the book, the workers of the printing press recall the sudden death of Rabbi Yosef, the owner of the printing press, who worked hard to ensure the book will be impressive yet did not see the results of his efforts.

The book was printed in nice letters, on thick, high-quality, bright paper. A thick volume with more than 500 leaves.
Before us is a copy with the original binding - wood covered with decorated leather. The title page is decorated by a nice architectural frame. At the bottom of the title page, the logo pf the printer Rabbi Aharon Lippmann (Frankel), who printed many Hebrew books in Sulzbach. The logo depicts a creek and two zodiac signs. On the right: two fish facing the left (the zodiac sign of Adar) and a crab facing the right (the zodiac sign of Tamuz).
It should be noted that Ya'ari, in his book "Diglei Ha'Madpisim Ha'Ivriyim", no. 82. writes that this logo appeared for the first time on the title page of the first book printed by Lippmann (a Machzor) in 1699. However, here we find the logo in a book printed in Furth in 1692. Maybe Lippmann had copied the logo of the printer Yosef Zalman Shneur of Furth.

[4], 502, 12 leaves. 32.5 cm.
Condition: Excellent. Nice, impressive copy. Wide margins. A restored flaw on the title page, which slightly damages the illustration. The back binding is almost completely detached of the front binding. Omission in the leather cover in two places. The buckles are restored, non-original.