[Rarebooks] "Rabbi Samuel's" infamous anti-semitic tract.

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(INCUNABULA) Samuel, Rabbi. [EPISTOLA CONTRA JUDAEORUM ERRORES]. RATIONES BREVES MAGNI RABI SAMUELIS... [Trans. Alphonsus Boni Hominis]. Cologne: (Heinrich Quentel). "1499" (but not after 1497). 4to. 24 leaves, 36 lines, gothic letter. Complete. Initials supplied in red; paragraph marks, underlinings and initial strokes also in red. 20th century brown morocco. Some leaves with light soiling & marginal dampstaining in places.	$4,500.00 (trade discount allowed)
A late 15th century edition (ISTC records 19 editions) of this popular anti-Jewish tract which first appeared in 1474. The work purports to be a letter written in the year 1000 A.D. by Rabbi Samuel of Morocco, a converted Jew, to Rabbi Isaac, and to have been translated from the Arabic by Alphonsus Boni Hominis, a Dominican monk, although the ENCYCLOPEDIA JUDAICA claims that he was actually the author, drawing largely from another tract in Arabic. According to the Jewish encyclopedia, nothing is known about the translator who may actually have been Paul of Burgos. The aim of the work was the refutation of Judaism from scripture, especially the Old Testament. Although the date of 1499 appears in the colophon, this must be a misprint as another copy is recorded by BMC as being bound in Groningen in 1497.
Editions of this infamous tract have become uncommon in the market place. Only 6 records are entered in ABPC, none for our edition. Goff records 4 copies in America and no additional copies have been added since its publication 50 years ago. HC 14271*. BMC I, 291. Goff S114. ISTC: is00114000.


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