Faksimile-Ausgabe des Mischnacodex Kaufmann A 50... Veröffentlichungen der Alexander Kohut-Gedächtnisstiftung (Facsimile Edition of the Mishna Codex Kaufmann A 50... Publications of the Alexander Kohut Memorial Foundation)

The Hague (Haag): Martinus Nijhoff, 1929. First edition. Hardcover. Folio (41.7 by 34.2 cm.). [12], [4], 572 pp. Photogravure facsimiles loose in unopened fascicles (as issued), housed in original publisher's cloth-backed board portfolio, spine lettered in gilt, boards lettered in orange and black. Light soiling and wear to boards; top corner upper board slightly damaged. Faintest touch of foxing at outermost leaves; facsimile plates fine.

First edition of this finely-produced facsimile of the Codex Kaufmann, the oldest of the three extant complete manuscripts of the Mishna, the primary foundational document of Rabbinic Judaism, redacted ca. (truncated) 200 CE. Likely of Italian origin (10th-11th cent.), the vocalized manuscript contains comments, most of which are emendations, in several hands. "The Kaufmann codex is undoubtendly the oldest complete Mishna text and contains the best readings, even though it does not seem as faithful as the Cambridge codex in preserving the Palestinian recension. Hence the Kaufmann codex must now be regarded as the basic text of all scientific editions... Kaufmann acquired the manuscript in 1896 after all sorts of difficulties, and he gave expression to his great joy in his own "Psalm of David" which he wrote in his well-known violet ink on the flyleaf in the front part of the manuscript" (HAS).

The Austrian scholar David Kaufmann (1852-1899) attended the rabbinical seminary in Breslau between 1877 and 1887; he received his doctorate at Leipzig for a dissertation on the philosophy of religion of Sa'adiah Gaon. A scholar of unusually wide and thorough knowledge, Kaufmann was a prolific writer who made important contributions to the study of medieval Jewish philosophy, along with the history of religion and the history of Jewish art. His rich library which contained important manuscripts, incunabula, and genizah fragments is now owned by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. References: M. Beit-Arié, Unveiled Faces of Medieval Hebrew books, pp. 54-55; I. Godlziher, Kaufmann Dávid köntvára [The Library of David Kaufmann], in: Akadémiae Értesítö [Bulletin of the Academy] 18 (1906) 309; Hungarian Academy of Sciences, David Kaufmann Collection (online); S. Krauss, Die Kaufmann'sche Mischna-Handschrift, in: Monatschrift für Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judentums 51 (1907), p. 460.

Full title and imprint: Veröffentlichungen der alexander Kohut-Gedächtnisstiftung : Faksimile-Ausgabe des Mischnacodex Kaufmann A 50: mit Genehmigung der Ungarischen Akademie der Wissenschaften in Budapest besorgt von d. Dr. Georg Beer Professor der Theologie an der Universität Heidelberg. Martinus Nijhoff : Haag : Holland 1929. (Inventory #: 54602)