Prague

Later Cloth, Square 8vo, 32 (of 33) leaves (final leaf, f 33, is missing) . In Hebrew. Meiri (1249–1316) , was a Provençal scholar and commentator of the Talmud. “Meiri was born in Perpignan where he spent his whole life. His family, regarded as one of the most distinguished in Provence, originated from Carcassonne and Narbonne. … Among the contemporary scholars with whom he maintained close ties was Solomon b. Abraham Adret; they exchanged many responsa and Adret's teachings assisted him in the writing of his monumental work. Meiri was one of the participants in Adret's polemic against Maimonides which ended in Adret's excommunicating any person who read philosophical works in his youth. In a letter to Abba Mari b. Moses Joseph, who handled the entire affair and collected the relevant correspondence, Meiri disassociated himself from the attitude of Adret and his colleagues, upholding freedom of thought for the scholars of each country, and freedom from intervention by outside scholars. Extracts from Meiri's letter (republished by D. Kaufmann along with the reply by Joseph b. Simeon in the name of Abba Mari under the title ? Oshen Mishpat in the Jubelschrift… L. Zunz, 1884; Heb. Sec. 142–74) , reveal his great interest in philosophy and other secular sciences, and reflect his pride in the local scholars who had acquired proficiency in them. Meiri occupies a central position in the sphere of the talmudic creativity of Provence, not only due to his extraordinary literary fecundity and the comprehensive scope of his works, but also because he summarizes the teachings of his predecessors during the previous three centuries. In effect he puts the seal upon the literary efforts in this area of Jewish culture. His literary activity covered halakhic rulings, talmudic exposition, biblical exegesis, customs, ethics, and philosophy. The vast majority of Meiri's works remained in manuscript until very recently, probably on account of their exceptional length, which made it practically impossible to copy them in full. A small number of his books were published in the second half of the 18th century and the majority of them – from the beginning of the 20th century up to the present day” (Ta-Shma and Derovan in EJ, 2007) . SUBJECT(S) : Talmud. Megillah -- Commentaries. Hagigah Ta`anit. OCLC lists 4 copies(JTS, HUC, Harvard, Danish Ntl Lib) . Ex-library with usual marks to later binding; stains, lacks final leaf, otherwise Very Good Condition. (kh-5-42)