Shulchan Aruch - Be'er Heitev. The Burned First Edition. Only Copy in the World

Shulchan Aruch - Be'er Heitev. The Burned First Edition. Only Copy in the World

Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah with the Be'er Heitev commentary by Rabbi Yehudah Ashkenazi. Amsterdam, Hertz Rofeh Press. 1737. Apparently the only complete copy in the world!

Rabbi Yehudah Ashkenazi of Tiktin, author of Be'er Heitev, brought his book to print in 1737 at the Naftali Hertz HaLevi Rofeh Press in Amsterdam. Yet a large fire broke out near the printing press and thousands of books were consumed. Among them was most of this Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah im Be'er Heitev edition. Very few copies of this book survived the fire. As such, in the next edition of the book printed by Naftali Hertz Rofeh, in 1746, it is written: "The Jewish people already knows of  the fire that burned several years ago, when new and old books were burned, including Yoreh Deah im Be'er Heitev, and there are not even ten left from the fire." This fire was also mentioned in the approbations to the second (more common) edition. As an aside, this fire was also mentioned in other books of the period. For example, in Sefer HaTashbetz, printed in 1739, the printer wrote about the fire that totally destroyed the press - the books and the printing tools, and that there was but one step between him and death.

For more about the rarity of this book, refer to the Hebrew catalog text.

This is the complete book, through leaf 357 with the colophon. More material about this is attached.

[3] 497 leaves, 17 cm.

Very fine condition: Signatures from the period of printing. Minimal aging stains. Few worming perforations. Red page cuts. Antique leather binding.