Sefer HaMitzvot by the Rambam – First Edition – Constantinople, Ca. 1510-1525

Sefer HaMitzvot by the Rambam – First Edition – Constantinople, Ca. 1510-1525

Sefer HaMitzvot by the Rambam, translated from Judeo-Arabic to Hebrew by R. Moshe ibn Tibbon. [Constantinople: printer not indicated, ca. 1510-1525]. First edition.
Printed without a title page.
The translator's introduction on the first leaf: "Says Moshe son of Shmuel son of Yehudah ibn Tibbon of Granada: This important composition was authored by the distinguished rabbi, the great luminary who enlightened the eyes of the diaspora, our teacher and master Moshe servant of G-d, son of the distinguished Rabbi Maimon of blessed memory…".
Initial letter Alef on p. [1a] set in fine, woodcut decorative panel.
This item is the first edition of the Rambam's Sefer HaMitzvot, one of the most important works listing the Mitzvot of the Middle Ages. The book, written originally in Judeo-Arabic, was supposed to serve as a sort of introduction to the Rambam's great halachic work, Mishneh Torah. Sefer HaMitzvot includes a detailed list of the 613 commandments – 248 positive commandments, and 365 negative commandments – the number of commandments of the Written Torah, according to tradition. Before listing the commandments, the Rambam prefaces an introduction composed of fourteen "roots" – rules serving as the basis for his method of counting the Mitzvot. The Rambam later expressed dissatisfaction for not having composed the work in Hebrew: "I very much regret having composed it in the Arabic language, because everyone needs to read it, and I am now waiting to translate it to the holy tongue, with the help of the Almighty" (Letters of the Rambam, Y. Sheilat edition, Jerusalem, 1995, Responsum to Tyre regarding counting the Mitzvot, p. 223). R. Moshe ibn Tibbon's translation of the book was the common Hebrew translation of the book for many years.
The researcher R. Chaim Heller, in the introduction to his edition of the Rambam's Sefer HaMitzvot, Piotrków, 1914, writes that in subsequent editions of the book the printers made many changes, intending to fix mistakes, while in fact creating many errors in the original text of Tibbon's translation.

[68] leaves. 21 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains, including light dampstains and traces of dampness on the margins of some leaves. Open tears at the margins of several leaves, not affecting the text, repaired with paper filling. Some worming. Early leather binding with a new spine. Damage to binding.

A. Yaari, Hebrew Printing at Constantinople, no. 80.