First Sefer With The Author’s Portrait – 1710

A collection I recently acquired included a fine first edition of a book first published in Venice in 1710, titled Melechet Machshevet and authored by Rabbi Moshe Chefetz. The sefer is a philosophical study on the Torah and also includes chiddushim by the author's son Gershon, who died in the devastating plague that stuck Venice in 1699.

This sefer is notable for being the first published Hebrew book to include a portrait of its author. The portrait shows an elegantly dressed, clean-shaven middle-aged man with long hair and no visible head covering. While this look may be surprising today, it reflected the widespread custom of Italian Jews, including rabbis, during this period.

When this book was republished in 1860, the publisher chose to add a yarmulke to the portrait in accordance with the practices and beliefs of Jews at this time.