Masaot, the itinerary of R. Binyamin. Constantinople: Eliezer son of Gershom Soncino, 1543. First edition.
Rare first edition of one of the most famous Jewish travelogues, including a rich and important description of Jewish life in various locations in the 12th century, the period of the Rishonim.
On the verso of the title page, the book begins with a short foreword on R. Binyamin and his book: "This book was composed based on what was recounted by a man from Navarra named R. Binyamin son of Yonah of Tudela. He traveled and entered many distant lands… and in every place he visited, he wrote down everything he saw or heard from trustworthy people… And when he returned, he brought these words of his with him to Castile in the year 1173".

R. Binyamin of Tudela, a 12th century Jewish traveler and explorer. R. Binyamin departed ca. 1165 on a lengthy voyage in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. He began his voyage in Saragossa, and he later traveled to southern France, departed Marseilles for Genoa, reached Rome and southern Italy, sailed through Corfu to Greece, Turkey and Constantinople, traveled through Syria to Eretz Israel and also reached Mesopotamia and Yemen, finally returning to Spain in 1173. In his travelogue, R. Binyamin describes the lands he visited, with particular attention to the Jewish communities, their number in each location, their ways of life and their customs. His descriptions often mention important Jewish sages he met in various lands.
R. Binyamin's itinerary has been printed in dozens of editions over the years and has also been printed in translation in various languages. The book was first translated into Latin by the Spanish scholar Benito Arias Montano (Antwerp, 1575), whose edition formed the basis for translations into other languages printed thereafter.

[32] leaves. 13.5 cm. Overall good condition. Stains, including slight dampstains. Censorship expurgations in ink, resulting in many stains. Several handwritten inscriptions. Early binding, composed of remnants of manuscripts.

Complete copies are very rare. Recorded in the Bibliography of the Hebrew Book based on a copy in the British Library.