Auction 87 - Jewish and Israeli Art, History and Culture
Including: sketches by Ze'ev Raban and Bezalel items, hildren's books, avant-garde books, rare ladino periodicals, and more
Bound volume of issues of the weekly "El Instructor, revista sientifika y literaria" ("The Instructor, scientific and literary review"), edited by David Fresco. Year one, issues 1-32 (no additional issues were published). Galata, Istanbul, 1888. Ladino.
The periodical El Instructor, edited by David Fresco (1853-1933), prominent Ladino translator, journalist and public figure, was published during the course of 1888 (1st Iyar 1888 – 11th Kislev 1888). It features articles on literature, science, history, the Jewish world, and includes serialized stories and novels, riddles and quizzes, and more. In the main editorial in the first issue, Fresco writes: "After dedicating more than 13 of my best years to publishing the newspaper El Telegrafo, I realized it was necessary to renounce from it […] and I am beginning now with the publication of a new newspaper titled El Instructor" (quoted by Gaon, see below).
Rare. The complete collection of issues is held in the NLI and other libraries in microfilm only.
See: Dov Cohen, Thesaurus of Ladino Books, Yad Ben Zvi, 2021. No. 3480. • Moshe David Gaon, A Bibliography of the Judeo-Spanish (Ladino) Press, Yad Ben Zvi, 1965, no. 15.
The editor of the periodical, David Fresco (1853-1933), was closely associated with the Alliance Israélite Universelle, and was known to enthusiastically support the integration of Jews as equal citizens in the Ottoman empire, among other things by encouraging Westernization in all areas of life. This viewpoint is expressed in El Instructor, one of several publications edited by Fresco, the purpose of which was "to educate the readers about the latest trends in hygiene, child-rearing, nutrition, and the natural and human sciences" (Abrevaya Stein, p. 124; see below). El instructor and other periodicals edited by Fresco were comprised almost entirely of articles translated from contemporary English- and French-language periodicals, and offered Jewish readers "models of how to eat, drink, sleep, exercise, breath and behave" (ibid). They thus served as a platform for furthering the interests of the Alliance. Nevertheless, given that they were written in Ladino, they were perceived as intrinsically Jewish periodicals.
Fresco was criticized for not being Zionist, and for expressing hostility to the Zionist movement and its institutions, which he rejected in favor of the integration of Jews in the general society. Nevertheless, in the various forums he wrote in, Fresco defended the rights of the Jews, and dealt with attacks against them in Turkish newspapers, while at the same time displaying absolute loyalty to the Ottoman Empire, and after 1923, to the Republic of Turkey.
See: Sarah Abrevaya Stein, "Making Jews Modern: the Yiddish and Ladino Press in the Russian and Ottoman Empires, Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana UP, 2004.
32 issues, bound together. 318 pp. (8-12 pages per issue; continuous pagination). Approx. 38 cm. Overall good condition. Stains (dark stains to several leaves). Minor marginal tear, some open, not affecting text, repaired in part. Minor creases. Some handwritten notations. New binding and endpapers.
Five bound volumes of issues of the literary supplement to the newspaper "El Telegrafo" – "El Telegrafo, Edicion de Martes" (The Telegraph: Tuesday edition), edited by Isak son of Yehezkel Gabbay. Years 1-5 – 241 issues. Galata (Istanbul), 1888-1893. Ladino.
Five bound volumes of issues of the literary supplement to El Telegrafo, distributed on Tuesdays. The supplement, which began appearing in 1888, featured articles on various literary topics, serials, poems, and various items relating to culture and science (including a series of articles dedicated to the 1889 Paris World's Fair). Illustrations in some issues.
An additional supplement to El Telegrafo was published on Thursdays (titled "El Telegrafo, Edicion de Jueves"). According to Dov Cohen (see below), it is unclear whether the two supplements appeared concurrently or in different years.
241 issues, in five volumes. This is presumably an almost complete collection of the supplement's issues. The first volume, from 1888, is especially rare. Dov Cohen notes (based on the copies in the Yad Ben Zvi library): "We saw issues from vols. 2-5… the last one being: vol. 5 [year 16], no. 48, 26th Tishrei 1893" (the last issue in the present volumes is issue 47, 4th Tishrei 1893).
Little is known about the editor, Isak son of Yehezkel Gabbay (d. 1930 in Istanbul). Gabbay – a writer, journalist, editor and translator – was a member of a prominent Spanish family, son of Judge Yehezkel Gabbay, and brother of the writer Rosa Gabbay. His father founded the newspaper Journal Israelit (Cohen, no. 3549), which became the El Nasyonal (ibid, no. 3650), and eventually the El Telegraf (later El Telegrafo). Gabbay edited the paper, one of the most prominent amongst Ladino speakers in the Ottoman Empire, throughout most years of its publication; he was preceded by the prominent journalist David Fresco.
Issues:
• Vol. I (years 10-11 of the publication of the main edition of El Telegrafo), issue nos. 1-50 – 29th Nissan 1888 to 8th Nissan 1889. 398 pp. Lacking final leaf of issue no. 50. Includes title page and table of contents for entire volume.
• Vol. II (years 11-12 of the main edition), issue nos. 1-48 – 23rd Nissan 1889 to 11th Nissan 1890. 384 pp. Includes table of contents for entire volume.
• Vol. III (years 12-13 of main edition), issue nos. 1-48 – 25th Nissan 1890 to 12th Nissan 1891. 382 pp. Includes table of contents for entire volume.
• Vol. IV (years 13-14 of main edition), issue nos. 1-48 – 27th Nissan 1891 to 5th Sivan 1892. 384 pp.
• Vol. V (years 14-15 of main edition), issue nos. 1-47 – 19th Sivan 1892 to 4th Tishrei 1893. 376 pp.
See: • Dov Cohen, Thesaurus of Ladino Books, Yad Ben Zvi, 2021. No. 3575. • Moshe David Gaon, A Bibliography of the Judeo-Spanish (Ladino) Press, Yad Ben Zvi, 1965, no. 117.
5 volumes, approx. 33.5 cm. Condition varies. Overall good-fair condition. Stains, including foxing and dampstains, some large. Closed and open tears, affecting text; long tears to some leaves (across leaf). Some tears (non-professionally) repaired with paper. Some leaves detached or loose. Loose gatherings in last volume (binding partially detached). Minor worming to some issues. Ottoman revenue stamps. Wear and defects to bindings. Four bindings incorporate original leather spines.
Six bound volumes of issue of the satiric periodical "El Jugeton" (also: El Gugeton), edited by Elia Rafael Carmona. Years 2-7 – 293 issues. Istanbul: Arditi press, 1910-1915. Ladino.
The newspaper features "mostly satirical literary texts, such as poems, parodies and articles criticizing the community leadership and figures etc. Includes serialized stories, many of them by Carmona, the editor" (Cohen, see below). Some issues printed on colored paper. Occasional cartoons and illustrations.
293 issues – all the issues for years 2-7 of the periodical's publication (in six volumes): • Year 2, 51 consecutive issues – Nissan 1910 to Adar 1911. • Year 3, 51 consecutive issues – Adar 1911 to Adar 1912. • Year 4, 52 consecutive issues – Nissan 1912 to Adar I 1913. • Year 5, 52 consecutive issues – Adar II 1913 to Adar 1914. • Year 6, 43 consecutive issues – Adar 1914 to Adar 1915. • Year 7, 44 consecutive issues – Adar 1915 to Nissan 1916.
Rare. A complete collections of consecutive issues from these years is scarce.
The editor, Elia Rafael Carmona (1869-1931/5), humorist and satirist, prominent Ladino journalist and writer, was born in Istanbul to a Sephardic family of distinguished lineage. He authored romances, novellas and serialized novels; worked as typist for the journalist David Fresco, with whom he held close ties. After the 1908 Young Turks Revolution, which allowed for greater freedom of publication in the Ottoman Empire, he began publishing the El Jugeton. The paper gained popularity and was published for over two decades.
See: Dov Cohen, Thesaurus of Ladino Books, Yad Ben Zvi, 2021. No. 3546. • Moshe David Gaon, A Bibliography of the Judeo-Spanish (Ladino) Press, Ben Zvi Institute, 1965, no. 86.
6 volumes. Most issues 8-pages long. Size and condition vary. Overall good condition (some issues in good-fair condition). Stains. Tears, mostly minor. One leaf torn in half; several leaves with long tears, repaired. Margins of some issues trimmed, slightly affecting text. Minor worming to some issues. Ink faded on several leaves. Some handwritten notations. A few leaves detached or partially detached. Minor defects to bindings.
1. Silabario judeo-español y primo libro de lectura [Judeo-Spanish study book, first reader]. [Thessaloniki]: published by Ovadia Naar, Ecler press, [ca. 1925].
From p. 19 onwards – Primo libro de lectura, a reader with a variety of texts in Ladino (presumably by Yaakov son of Eliyahu HaKohen, who published the book Lecturas Diversas in Thessaloniki ca. 1890).
In the 1920s and 1930s, Ovadia S. Naar published several editions of a textbook for the study of Ladino (with different content), sometimes using the same title page for several editions. The present book is the ca. 1925 edition, with the title page of the ca. 1920 edition. See: Dov Cohen, Thesaurus of the Ladino Book 1490-1960, Jerusalem 2022, listing nos. 2734, 2736 and 2737.
32 pp. (including wrappers), 20 cm. Good condition. Stains, including minor dampstains. Creases. Small wormhole through all leaves (with minute damage to text). Pinholes and some minor closed and open tears to edges (not affecting text), repaired in part. Lower margins trimmed unevenly. With new paper wrappers.
2. Nuevo silabario español, metod prática y moderna por el enseñamiento dela lingua judeo-española [New Spanish study book. Practical and Modern Method for the Study of Judeo-Spanish]. Thessaloniki: Ovadia S. Naar, 1931.
From p. 22 onwards – Segunda parte y primo libro de lectura, texts on various topics. Printed based on the Thessaloniki 1929 edition. See: Dov Cohen, Thesaurus of Ladino Books 1490-1960, Jerusalem 2022, listing nos. 2738-2739.
Inked stamp on the back wrapper – Offenbach Archival Depot (warehouse of the U.S. Army in the town of Offenbach am Main in the American sector of Germany, where millions of books, manuscripts and documents looted by the Germans during WWII were collected. Some were later returned to their previous owners, while others were sent to various libraries and collections around the world).
[40] pp., approx. 20 cm. Good condition. Minor blemishes. Inked stamps on wrappers. New card binding (bound with original wrappers).
A collection of Jewish and Arabic songs from the Andalusi tradition, arranged in nūbāt (the andalusi nūbah is a multi-movement musical piece, comparable to the suite form in western classical music). Compiled by Algerian-Jewish musician Edmond Nathan Yafil, the anthology seeks to preserve the musical tradition of Muslim Spain's golden age, rooted in both Jewish and Muslim cultures. Published concurrently with a nearly identical book in Arabic. Both preserve hundreds of classical texts which, if not for this publication, may have been lost.
Edmond Nathan Yafil (1874-1928), a prominent and highly-respected Algerian-Jewish musician, regarded as one of the greatest North-African musicians in Muslim and Jewish circles alike. Studied under the famous Algerian musician Muhammad Bin Ali Sfindja. Yafil headed the El Moutribia school and ensemble, and was a key figure in the revival of Andalusi music in Algeria, having also published dozens of books containing traditional Algerian nubat, which he compiled and transcribed into the western notation system. The present book and its Arabic twin played an important role in the documentation and preservation project of traditional Andalusi music.
For further reading:
• Shiloah, Amnon. "The Activity of Jewish Musicians in Classical Algerian Music and Related Areas". Pe'amim, vol. 91, 2002, pp. 51-64.
• Silver, Christopher. "Recording History: Jews, Muslims, and Music across Twentieth Century North Africa". Stanford University Press, 2022.
[2] ff., 390 pp., [3] ff., 2, 26 pp., approx. 23 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains. Creases. Numerous library stamps. Numerous penned and penciled inscriptions. Some pages loose or partially detached. Tears, including small open tears, to edges of several pages. Hardcover with leather spine and gilt lettering. Damage and wear to cover. Several softcover copies are known of.