Folio, (294 x 200 mm). 9 ff. (including both title pages), 400 ff., 4 ff. Fine modern red morocco, raised bands to spine, gilt fillets to boards forming compartments, compartments in spine heavily tooled in gilt, lettered in gilt, in clamshell case. First title page repaired and mounted, ff. 185 restored and mounted, ff. 195 and 202 restored along bottom edge, closed tear to bottom edge of ff. 224, corners of ff. 243 278, and 349 restored, minor paper repairs to a few leaves mostly in margins, colophon window-mounted, a washed copy resulting in some light browning with traces of some washed annotations.

This Bible is a landmark production for the numerous Jews that emigrated (forcefully) to various parts of Europe, some more tolerant than others, the Bible was produced in the context of the liberal laws under Ercole II d’Este, whose reign attracted not only Jews from Spain, but also from Portugal, and from other places in Italy.

In this context, Abraham ibn Usque, a scholar and printer, took refuge in Ferrara, once there he abandoned his Christian name ‘Duarte Pinel’, and published a number of Hebrew works of philosophy and theology; this Bible was aimed at supplying Marranos of Spanish and Portuguese descent who did not know Hebrew with texts in the vernacular.

The production of the book was financed by Spanish Jew Yom Tob Atias, and two issues are known, one with the names of the printer and publisher in the Christian forms and dated 1553, and a rarer one with the Jewish names of the publisher and printer and with the date in the Jewish form, and dedicated to the patroness of the Iberian Jews in Italy, Dona Gracia Naci (instead of the most common version, dedicated to Ercole II).

Adams B-1254; Darlow & Moule 8467; Palau 28940.