Fundamento Solido, Baza y Thypo de la Sacro Sancta…, by Judah Leon de Joseph Perez. Amsterdam: Ishac Jeudah Leaõ Templo (R. Yehudah Leon Templo), 1728. Spanish. Additional title page in Hebrew: Yesod Oz, "published in a foreign tongue to bring merit to the mighty Jewish people, by a Jewish man of the family of Peretz, Yehudah Aryeh son of R. Yosef Peretz…".

Theological work in Spanish, with title page, colophon and approbations in Hebrew. The work was written for the Marranos, descendants of the Jews forcibly converted to Christianity in Spain and Portugal, who returned to their religion, with the aim of explaining various Jewish concepts, commandments and customs. The work was modeled on the Catholic catechism, in the form of questions and answers on the fundamentals of the Jewish faith.

The author,
R. Yehudah son of Yosef Peretz, author of Perach HaLevanon (Berlin, 1712) and Shaarei Rachamim (Venice, 1710), scion of one of the most distinguished Jewish families in Spain. Served as rabbi in Venice and Amsterdam. The Hebrew colophon describes the author's miraculous salvation from a shipwreck during a trip from London to Amsterdam for the purpose of printing the present book, with his original thanksgiving poem.

For more information on the book, see: Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi, "The Re-Education of Marranos in the Seventeenth Century", in: The Faith of Fallen Jews: Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi and the Writing of Jewish History, Massachusetts, 2014, pp. 157-174.

On R. Yehudah son of Yosef Peretz and his family history, see: Michal Saraf (Malachi), Ayelet Chishki Kelilat Yofi – Toldot Rabbi Aharon Peretz, Lod: Habermann Institute for Literary Research, 1994, pp. 13-21.

[10] leaves, 126, 129-137, [3] pages. Approx. 18 cm. Good condition. Light stains. Minor marginal tears to a few leaves. Worming to bottom of leaves, not affecting text. Bookplate on inside of front cover. Inscriptions on inside of front cover and on front endpaper. Cardboard binding with leather spine and corners. Wear, minor tears and worming to binding. Minor rubbing and tears to spine.

Kayserling, p. 88.