Mishneh Torah, Sefer hafla"ah, Moses ben Maimon (Maimonides), Yemen, 1498, Ink on paper, Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, Friedberg MSS 5-021

Mishneh Torah, Sefer hafla"ah, Moses ben Maimon (Maimonides), Yemen, 1498, Ink on paper, Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, Friedberg MSS 5-021

The Mishneh Torah, not to be confused with the early medieval Mishnah seen in the eleventh-century manuscript pages appearing earlier in the exhibition, was composed by the Sephardic Jewish philosopher and physician Maimonides (1138-1204). Born in Cordoba, Spain, Maimonides wrote his major works in Morocco and Egypt, and his commentary on Jewish law in the Mishneh Torah has been deeply important to all Jewish communities, particularly Sephardic diasporic communities as well as the Jews of Yemen. The owner of this volume has noted the births of two of his children on the first leaf and included a blessing, demonstrating how a book of religious law can also contain tender personal family histories. This copy of the Mishneh Torah is written on burnished paper, an Islamic technique that gives a sheen to the sheets and makes them easier to write on.

Maimonides, Moses (1135-1204)

Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library

1498

Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library

Dimensions: 28.9 x 21.8 x 5.0cm

Material: ink on paper

Hebrew

Fisher Friedberg MSS 5-021

Yemen