Rewriting Maimonides : early commentaries on the Guide of the Perplexed Maimonideanism the intellectual culture inspired by Maimonides’ writings has received much recent attention. Yet a central aspect of Maimonideanism has been overlooked: the formal reception of the Guide of the Perplexed through commentary. In Rewriting Maimonides Igor H. De Souza offers a comprehensive analysis of six early philosophical commentaries written in Italy Spain and France by some of Maimonides’ most loyal followers. The early commentaries represent the most creative period of exegesis of the Guide. De Souza’s analysis dispels the notion that the tradition of commentary on the Guide is monolithic. Rather De Souza’s study illuminates how each commentator offers distinctive readings. Challenging the hierarchy of text and commentary Rewriting Maimonides studies commentaries on the Guide as texts in their own right. De Souza approaches the form of commentary as a multifaceted cultural practice. Employing historical philosophical and literary methods this publication fills a lacuna in the history of the Guide through a global perspective on commentary