A 1520 Meseches Avodah Zarah – Uncensored

I recently acquired an impressive volume: Tractate Avoda Zarah from the very first complete edition of the Talmud, published by Daniel Bomberg in Venice in 1520.

Bomberg was the first Hebrew printer in Venice, as well as the first non-Jew to print Hebrew books. It took him four years to publish the Talmud, and nearly all subsequent publishers followed the format of his Talmud, with Rashi and Tosafot on the sides of the page and the Rosh and piske Tosafot in the back.

The copy I acquired is notable because it is uncensored, which is rare for a Masechet Avodah Zarah from the first few centuries of printing. Masechet Avodah Zarah contains a lot of material on relations between Jews and non-Jews and was a "favorite" among early censors whose job it was to erase texts they found offense. Indeed, the 16th-century Basel edition of the Babylonian Talmud didn't contain the tractate at all!