BISLICHES (Bisseliches), MORDECAI (Marcus) LEIB

BISLICHES (Bisseliches), MORDECAI (Marcus) LEIB (1786–1851), bibliophile and rabbinic scholar. Bisliches left his native Brody, Galicia, to lead an unsettled life. In 1816 he went to Paris where he successfully engaged in business. There, in association with his brother Ephraim, he prepared for publication Isaac *Abrabanel's Yeshu'ot Meshiḥo from a manuscript in the Bibliothèque Nationale (1828). Bisliches returned home, but soon left again, this time for Holland and England, always searching for rare books and manuscripts. On a third journey he went to Italy where he made many discoveries, and on his return prepared the following works for publication: Shem Tov b. Joseph *Falaquera's Sefer ha-Nefesh (1835) and Moreh ha-Moreh (1837, 1961²); Samuel ibn *Tibbon's Yikkavuha-Mayim (1837), with a largely autobiographical introduction; *Naḥmanides' novellae to tractate Shabbat under the title Oẓar Neḥmad (1837); Abba Mari b. Moses (of Lunel)'s Minḥat Kena'ot and Sefer ha-Yare'aḥ (1838), with a letter concerning Maimonides' Guide; and Abraham *Ibn Ezra's Sefat Yeter (1838), with an introduction by M. Letteris. In 1846 Bisliches, in partnership with S.G. Stern, sold 111 manuscripts in 102 volumes to the archduchess Marie Louise of Parma for 8,500 lire; they were added to the *De'Rossi Collection in the Palatine Library. These manuscripts were basically the collection of the 18^th-century bibliophile and bookdealer Moses Benjamin *Foà (b. 1729), who was book purveyor to the dukes of Modena. Bisliches also published Ha-Palit (1850), a catalog of 80 of his rare Hebrew manuscripts prepared by L. Zunz with annotations by Senior Sachs.

bibliography:

Loevinson, in: rmi, 7 (1933), 477ff.; Y. Colombo, ibid., 34 (1968), 492.