Printed Editions of The Book of the Kuzari from the 16th to 18th Century

The Book of the Kuzari by Judah Halevi was written in the 12th century in Judaeo-Arabic, but the Jews living in the Christian world used its Hebrew translation. The first Sephardic commentaries were added already in the early 15th century. The first printed version appeared more than 350 years later, produced by Gershom Soncino's (Fano 1547). The other two 15th-century editions came from Venice: one in 1547 from Meir Paranzo's printing shop, and the other in 1594, with a commentary by Judah Moscato, from Zuan di Gara. In the following century, a Latin version compiled and translated by Johann Buxtorf the Younger (Liber Cosri, Basle 1660) became the first printed translation of the text into a European 1 age, with a Spanish version produced by Yaakov Abendana next (Cuzary, Amsterdam 1663). The 18th century saw the first Ashkenazi commentaries. The 1795 Berlin edition contained a commentary by Yitzhak of Satanow, the Vienna edition from 1796 (and the one that appeared the following year with a new title page) included a commentary by Izrael of Zamoge. The Jewish Historical Institute holds the manuscript of this commentary on the first two of the five parts of The Kuzari, written by Moshe Mendelssohn.