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Well, this is a very special book. It is signed and inscribed by one of Rabbi Alexander Kohut's daughters (Margaret Kohut Kahn) to one of his granddaughters (Katherine Kahn) on the dedication page (the dedication is to Rebekah Kohut, his second wife and the stepmother of Margaret Kohut Kahn). The inscription is quite beautiful. Here it is in full: 'To my beloved Katherine: The wisdom contained in this volume and as your grandfather lived it and taught it should be a source of hope and faith to sustain you ever as it did me at all times. In your search for truth, in your seeking for light upon your way, the teachings of your fathers should not lightly be overlooked. Religion to them was the stuff of life and the inspiration for good. God was ever present in their lives and reverence for all things was the basis of their very existence. May the spirit of your illustrious grandfather guide and guard you in all your ways and come to your help as he still comes to me and ever shall. Your mother, Margaret Kohut Kahn.' You can see the covers in the photos. Clearly this was not an abandoned book. It was used and shows some of that use. There are several dents on the edges. Three of the four corners have a bit of rub-through. There's a thin tear on the front side of the spine. There isn't much by way of soiling, and the page edges are pretty clean (the top page edge has some darkening). The spine has a very slight forward lean, but the book is decently bound. I found only one instance of a thin space over the bottom 1/3rd of the juncture between two facing pages. Both pages are solidly bound. There's also a thin tear over part of the juncture between the front cover and first front end paper. No paper is missing. The juncture at the rear cover is free of wear. The pages are very clean, but there is a small water stain off the top page edge beginning at the title page and carrying through approximately the first 60% of the pages. It's fairly light and never touches the print. The pages are in nice shape. I'm not seeing any creasing. There are no markings. No attachments. And the aforementioned signed inscription is the only writing to be found anywhere in the book. 'Alexander Kohut, (1842-1894) was a Hungarian-born American rabbi and scholar who wrote a monumental Talmudic lexicon and helped found the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. In 1865 Kohut assumed his first rabbinical pulpit, the beginning of a lifelong career as a rabbi. Excelling in Hungarian language and literature, he was appointed in 1867 to be superintendent of that nation?s schools, the first Jew to hold that position. In 1872 he was elected chief rabbi of Fünfkirchen, Hungary, where he remained for eight years. In the meantime, Kohut began work on his dictionary of the Talmud, the rabbinical compendium of law, lore, and commentary. As the basis of his work, he chose to revise the classic 'Arukh ("Lexicon"), a Hebrew and Aramaic dictionary compiled by Nathan ben Yehiel, a medieval Italian Hebrew lexicographer. Kohut worked on his magnum opus for some 25 years. During this period, he emigrated to the United States (1885), where he became rabbi of a congregation in New York. In 1886, with Rabbi Sabato Morais, he helped found the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York City and taught Talmudic studies there until his death. In 1892 the last volume of his ?Arukh ha-shalem was published (the first volume had appeared in 1878), and the work brought him honours from learned Jewish bodies throughout the world.'-- Encyclopaedia Britannica. Solomon Schechter called ?Arukh ha-shalem "the greatest and finest specimen of Hebrew learning ever produced by a Jew on this continent." When Rabbi Kohut arrived in the United States he soon became embroiled in the struggle between the traditionalist, conservative Jews and the reformed Jews. Ethics of the Fathers, first published in 1885, emerged from this controversy, establishing the position of the traditionalists. Codice articolo 003488
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