Mishneh Torah by the Rambam, Venice, 1574 - Scholarly Glosses Printed in Mishneh LaMelech in the Handwriting of ...

Mishneh Torah by the Rambam, Venice, 1574 - Scholarly Glosses Printed in Mishneh LaMelech in the Handwriting of Rabbi Avraham Rozanis the First, Rabbi and Father-in-Law of the Mishneh LaMelech - Scholarly Glosses by Other Writers from the Same Period
Mishneh Torah by the Rambam, with the Kesef Mishneh commentary by R. Yosef Karo. Parts Haflaah and Zera'im [of the third volume. Venice: Bragadin, 1574]. First edition of the Kesef Mishneh.
About 16 long (trimmed) glosses on the sheets of the book. These include six scholarly glosses in the characteristic handwriting of R. Avraham Rozanis, rabbi and father-in-law of R. Yehuda Rozanis, author of the Mishneh LaMelech. Five of these six glosses appear in the book Mishneh LaMelech with a few variations, creating an interesting phenomenon (already noted, see below): glosses written by the father-in-law were inadvertently included in his son-in-law's book.
One of the glosses written by R. Avraham Rozanis has not been printed [however, a long explanation on the same topic was printed in Mishneh LaMelech, apparently written by the son-in-law, the author of the Mishneh LaMelech himself].
The book also includes approximately 10 long scholarly glosses, written in Oriental script by several unidentified writers [characteristic to Turkish sages at that time], most begin with "The writer said".
The venerable R. Avraham (son of R. Meir) Rozanis (1535-1620), mostly cited by the name R. Avraham Rozanis the First, was one of the greatest and most resilient Torah scholars in Constantinople in his days, at the time that Constantinople was a major Torah center. Disciple of R. Shlomo HaLevi HaZaken (the Elder) and of R. Yom Tov Tzahalon (the Maharitz). From his youth, he was famous for his great Torah wisdom and all Constantinople scholars acquiesced to his opinion. He served as vizier in the royal court of the Sultan. In 1659, he was compelled to move with the sultan's court to the city of Adrianople where he lived until 1677 and was acclaimed throughout the Ottoman Empire. He staunchly opposed the false Messiah Sabbatai Zevi and his signature heads the list of signatures on the renowned letter sent to communities throughout Turkey admonishing them to defy the false Messiah's instructions to cancel the fast of Tisha B'Av. He himself met with Sabbatai Zevi when he arrived in Adrianople and was imprisoned by the Sultan and at that time Sabbatai Zevi admitted that Natan HaAzati led him astray with his "prophecies".
The only daughter of R. Avraham Rozanis married his great disciple and nephew R. Yehuda Rozanis author of the Mishneh LaMelech who often cites teachings of his illustrious father-in-law "The rabbi my uncle". A few of his responsa were printed in books written by great Torah scholars of his generation, however, most his Torah novellae were written in his glosses on his books. After his death, all his books with his glosses were inherited by his eminent son-in-law, author of Mishneh LaMelech and many of his novellae were printed in the book Mishneh LaMelech prepared for printing by Rabbi Yaakov Kuli author of Me'am Lo'ez.
The Chida in his book Shem HaGedolim (entry: R. Yehuda Rozanis) writes: "Cited in several places in the book Mishneh LaMelech are brief teachings and in particular resolute disagreements with later Torah authorities. All such citations are not the rabbi's own Torah thoughts, rather they are the teachings of his father-in-law R. Avraham Rozanis and the rabbi copied his father-in-law's teachings unto his sheets. Rabbi Yaakov Kuli found these handwritten glosses and thought that they were the teachings of the Mishneh LaMelech. This I have received directly from the elder rabbis".
The Chida further writes in Shem HaGedolim (entry R. Avraham Rozanis): "Rabbi Avraham Rozanis the First… father-in-law of the Mishneh LaMelech, was a great Torah scholar and wrote extensively on the sheets of books and all the brief resolute words in the Mishneh LaMelech on the Maharshach were written by this rabbi, and his son-in-law has copied them into his own book. The person who arranged the book [Rabbi Yaakov Kuli] thought that these were his Torah thoughts" (see enclosed material). In this book, this phenomenon can clearly be discerned, since the original glosses clearly written in the handwriting of R. Avraham Rozanis were printed in Mishneh LaMelech written by his son-in-law [regarding the identification of the handwriting of R. Avraham Rozanis in his glosses, see enclosed article - "Editing the book Mishneh LaMelech on the Rambam", by Yisrael Natan Heshel, Beit Aharon V'Yisrael, Issue 67, pp. 89-98].
[13], 163 leaves (leaves 91-102 and 145-150 are bound out of order). Lacking copy (originally, part 3 included: [20], 451, [1] leaves). 31 cm. Fair condition. Dampstains and wear. Worming. Repairs with paper (to many leaves near the spine and to the margins of several leaves). Detached leaves. Almost all the glosses are trimmed with significant loss to text. Worn detached binding.