Tamás Visi DAVID GANS’ NEHMAD VE-NAIM: HISTORY OF TEXTUAL TRANSMISSION The first serious attempt at reconstructing the textual history of David Gans’ Nehmad ve-naim was published by Georg (Jiøí) Alter (1891–1972) in 1958. 1 Alter was a Czech scholar from a German-speaking Jewish background; most of his re- search was conducted and published in Czechoslovakia during the Communist pe- riod. The story of his life and his research is a subject in its own right. 2 Alter’s study of Nehmad ve-naim has recently been republished by Gad Freudenthal. 3 The sec- ond attempt is that of André Neher (1914–1988). In his rather controversial mono- graph on David Gans “and his times” Neher devoted a full chapter to the printed edition and manuscripts of Nehmad ve-naim that were known to him. 4 Neher ac- cepted some of Alter’s conclusions, disagreed with others, and proposed an alter- native reconstruction of the transmission history of the text. The purpose of the present paper is to reconsider the main arguments of these two scholars in light of a new source material, chiefly manuscripts of Nehmad ve-naim that were not accessible to either of them. First I will summarize Alter’s results, Neher’s critique, and his alternative theory. Afterwards a list of manu- scripts known today will be presented and analyzed. Finally, I will argue that a re- vised version of Alter’s theory explains the available data the best. I Alter’s study is based on two primary sources: (1) the printed edition of Nehmad ve-naim, which appeared in Jessnitz (Saxony-Anhalt, Germany) in 1743, and (2) a manuscript of the same work which is preserved in Brno, in the Moravský zemský archiv (Moravian Land Archives). Alter was not aware of the existence of other manuscripts of Nehmad ve-naim. Comparing the printed edition to the manu- script, Alter noted the following differences: 5 Tamás Visi – David Gans’ Nehmad ve-Naim: History of Textual Transmission 161 1) George Alter, Two Renaissance Astronomers: David Gans, Joseph Delmedigo, Praha: ÈSAV, 1958. 2) See Gad Freudenthal, ‘Dossier: Georg Alter (1891–1972) on David Gans (1541–1613)’, Aleph, 11 (2011), pp. 59–61 and 114–156. 3) Georg (Jiøí) Alter, ‘David Gans: A Renaissance Jewish Astronomer’, Aleph, 11 (2011), pp. 61–114. Henceforth I will cite this edition of Alter’s work. 4) Neher wrote this monograph in French; subsequently it was published in Hebrew and in English too. André Neher, David Gans (1541–1613), disciple du Maharal de Prague, assistent de Tycho Brahe et de Jean Kepler, Paris: Klincksieck, 1974; idem, trans. David Maisel, Jewish Thought and the Scientific Revolution of the Sixteenth Century. David Gans (1541–1613) and his Times, New York: Oxford University Press 1986; idem, trans. Avital Inbar, David Gans (1541–1613) u-zmano: Mahshavat Yisrael ve-ha-mahapekhah ha-madait shel ha-meah ha-shesh-esreh, Jerusalem 2005 2 . For a review of Neher’s book by Y. Tzvi Langermann consult Isis, 81 (1990), pp. 105–107. 5) Cf. G. Alter, ‘David Gans’, pp. 64–69 and 91f.