Auction 89 - Rare and Important Items
One of the most important machzorim printed in Italy. First edition of Kimcha DeAvishona, comprehensive commentary to prayers and piyyutim, by R. Yochanan son of R. Yosef Treves (the commentary was published anonymously; regarding different copies of this machzor, some featuring the name of the author, see: Alexander Marx, R. Joseph Arli and R. Johanen Treves, Kovetz Mada'i LeZecher Moshe Schorr, New York 1945, pp. 193-194; Yitzchak Rivkind, Dikdukei Soferim, Kiryat Sefer, IV, 1927-1928, pp. 274-275).
There are thousands of glosses and emendations in Italian script throughout the machzor, including lengthy glosses with important content. The writer was presumably a Mantuan Torah scholar in ca. 1620s-30s. The glosses include teachings heard from Mantuan Torah scholars, customs and textual variations, commentaries, authors of piyyutim, references, and more.
The glosses mention Mantuan Torah scholars in the writer's time: R. Moshe Provençal, d. 1576 ("I heard from the late R. Provençal that the true text is…" – p. [32b]); R. Menachem Azariah of Fano, d. 1620; R. Chananya Elyakim Rieti, d. ca. 1623; R. Yitzchak son of R. Yehuda HaLevi, d. 1630 ("the secret of milah, which I received from the kabbalist R. Yitzchak Levi…" – p. [184a]; he is also mentioned in an [ownership?] inscription in Italian on one of the back endpapers).
The glosses also mention Venetian and Mantuan customs.
At the end of the book, two leaves in Italian script with the text of Pitum HaKetoret, recited in times of plague. Censorship deletions in several places.
[189] leaves. 33 cm. Fair-good condition. Many stains, including dampstains, dark stains and wax stains. Wear. Many tears, including open tears, affecting text in several places, repaired with paper. Minor marginal tears to title page, repaired with paper (over title page border). Minor damage to engraved title page border, due to binding. Censor's signature. New leather binding.
Less than twenty Hebrew titles were ever printed in Bologna, and this machzor is one of the last of them.
In the mid-16th century, Ferrara was the spiritual center of Italian Jewry. The rulers of Ferrara, the dukes from the House of Este, were sympathetic to the Marranos from Spain and Portugal, many of whom returned to openly practicing Judaism. The city housed a separate Spanish community, several synagogues and a printing press for Hebrew, Spanish and Portuguese books.
The printer of this machzor, Abraham son of Solomon Usque, was born in Portugal, fleeing the Inquisition to Ferrara in ca. 1543. There, he worked with the printer Yom Tov Levi Athias (a Spanish Marrano). The year this machzor was printed, the two printed the Ferrara Bible, the first bible with Ladino translation in Latin characters (the bible was published in two parallel editions: one for a Christian audience, dedicated to the Duke of Ferrara, and the second for the Jewish public, dedicated to Doña Gracia Nasi).
Usque's printer's device on final leaf – astrolabe set in a frame, surrounded by verses (see: Yaari, Diglei HaMadpisim HaIvriim, Jerusalem 1944, illustration 22 and pp. 133-134).
XXV-CCLXII leaves (i.e. XXV-CCLXXII. Misfoliated). Altogether: [248] leaves. Lacking 24 leaves at beginning of book (including title page). Good-fair condition. Many stains, including dampstains. Open tears to first leaf, not affecting text, repaired with paper. Minor marginal open tears to several leaves. Minor marginal worming to several leaves. Censorship deletions (some words scraped off on one leaf). Early binding, repaired.
Year-round machzor, following Ashkenazi rite. Part I – Shabbat prayers, Yotzrot for the four Parashiot, selichot for fast days, and prayers for Purim, Pesach and Shavuot, and Part II – selichot and prayers for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret. Venice: Giorgio di Cavalli, 1567. Two parts in two volumes.
This machzor was based on two previous editions – Salonika, ca. 1550, with commentaries and laws by R. Binyamin HaLevi Ashkenazi; and Sabbioneta-Cremona, 1557-1560. The laws by R. Binyamin HaLevi were printed in the present edition with some omissions and many additions. It also features a lengthy commentary to the prayers and piyyutim, which includes the commentaries printed in the two previous editions and passages from the commentary of R. Avraham of Prague printed in the Prague 1549-1550 edition. The laws printed at the beginning of the machzor are titled here Maaglei Tzedek, as in the Sabbioneta-Cremona edition. In some subsequent editions, the entire commentary is titled Maaglei Tzedek, and later, the machzor itself became known as Machzor Maaglei Tzedek.
Many fine woodcut initial word panels.
In vol. I, pieces of paper with hand-drawn zodiac signs were pasted on the leaves of mussaf for the first day of Pesach (on leaves 150-152 – piyyut about the zodiacs).
Brief handwritten glosses in Italian script. Many censorship deletions (in vol. I, entire pages were deleted in the Yotzer for Parashat Zachor; and an entire piyyut was deleted in the Yotzer for the second day of Shavuot).
Two volumes. Vol. I: [3], 7-255, [3], 261-284 leaves. Vol. II: 88, [3], 94-291 [i.e. 293] leaves. 28.5 cm. Condition varies. Vol. I in fair-good condition, vol. II in fair condition. Stains, including dampstains and dark stains. Tears, including large open tears to title page of vol. I and to other leaves in both volumes, with significant damage to text, mostly repaired with paper (photocopy text replacement on title page of vol. I and several other leaves). Marginal paper repairs. Worming, affecting text, repaired in part with paper. Margins of several leaves trimmed with damage to headings and catchwords. Several leaves detached. Several leaves may have been supplied from a different copy. New bindings.
On the final leaf of the first volume, signature of the censor Dominico Irosolimitano – a Jewish convert to Christianity, who became a notable censor of Hebrew books in Italy. He compiled Sefer HaZikuk (Book of Expurgation) intended for Christian censors of Hebrew books.
A similar machzor was printed that year in the same press, according to Polish rite.
Giorgio di Cavalli's printer's device, depicting an elephant bearing a castle carrying soldiers, appears on the title pages of both volumes, (see: Yaari, Diglei HaMadpisim HaIvriim, image 32 and p. 136).
Orden de Roshasanah y Kipur, machzor for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, with selichot, translated into Spanish. [Dordrecht (the Netherlands)]: [P. Verhagen] for Yahacob Israel, [1584].
This machzor edition is considered the first prayer book printed in the Netherlands for the Sephardic Jews who settled there (the first part of this machzor, for the three festivals, was printed two months prior). At that time, Jewish settlement in the Netherlands was still in its infancy, and the Amsterdam Jewish community had not yet been founded.
Owner's initials lettered on front board: "E. B.".
170, 175-327 leaves. Lacking 4 leaves: 171-174. 13.5 cm. Gilt edges. Fair-good condition. Stains, including dampstains. Worming to title page and other leaves, with significant damage to text. Tear to title page, affecting border and text on verso, without loss. Title page trimmed with slightly damage to border. First leaves loose and partially detached. Stamps. Early leather binding, with marbled endpapers (back endpaper lacking), and gilt decorations to spine. Defects and worming to binding.
The colophon on the final page states Mainz (Maguntia) as place of printing (based on this colophon, this machzor is known as "Machzor Maguntia"). The place of printing was presumably forged to mislead the Christian censorship, and the machzor was actually printed in Dordrecht in the P. Verhagen press (see enclosed material).
Rare edition, which to the best of our knowledge has never before been offered at auction.
Spanish siddur for weekdays, Shabbat, Rosh Chodesh, Chanukah and Purim. Miniature format.
Fine engraved title page by D. Coster.
Elegant original leather binding, with gilt decorations and original silver clasp
On final leaves, calendar for the years 5495-5530 (1734-1769), noting Hebrew and civil dates for beginning praying for rain outside Eretz Israel, for each year.
This siddur is the first Jewish prayer book printed in The Hague. At the time it was printed, The Hague was home to a small Sephardic community numbering only two hundred members.
The present siddur contains the first printed translation of the famous Lecha Dodi piyyut by R. Shlomo Alkabetz (see: H.P. Salomon, Lekha Dodi, The American Sephardi, vol. V, no. 1-2, pp. 33-42).
[1], 292, [6], [2] (blank), 293-533, [6] pages. Approx. 7 cm. Good condition. Light-colored, high-quality paper. Gilt edges. Minor stains. Original, gilt-decorated, leather binding and original silver clasp closure. Minor defects to binding.
The present book of Tehillim with Seder Maamadot was originally printed as part of Siddur HaShelah, with an individual title page for each part – the siddur, Tehillim and Seder Maamadot.
The book of Tehillim was printed with two commentaries: explanation of the words, compiled from the commentaries of Rashi, Radak, Ibn Ezra, and others; and a broader commentary, which is in fact the commentary of R. Moshe de Mercado (appears in his commentary on the books of Kohelet and Tehillim, published in Amsterdam 1653).
Seder HaMaamadot was printed with a commentary by R. Avraham Saraval.
The title page of Tehillim states: "One who recites it fervently and deliberately, rather than in haste, is assured of life in the World to Come".
Copy of R. Shmuel Salant Rabbi of Jerusalem. His stamps appear on the title pages (two different stamps: one in square type and the other in form of his signature).
R. Shmuel Salant (1816-1909), known as a genius from his childhood. At the young age of seven, he travelled to study in the Torah centers of Lithuania. He studied in his youth in Salant together with R. Yisrael Salant (founder of the musar movement). At the age of 14, he received from his teacher R. Abele Poswoller head of the Vilna Beit Din a letter discussing a complicated question pertaining to a divorce, demonstrating the high regard leading rabbis had for his opinion already then. After his marriage with the daughter of R. Yosef Zundel Salant, he immigrated to Eretz Israel in 1841 to serve as posek and rabbi of the Perushim community of disciples of the Gaon of Vilna in Jerusalem. In his capacity as rabbi of Jerusalem, a position he held for close to seventy years, he founded the educational and charity institutions in the city, established the Beit Din and strengthened the Ashkenazi community. He was renowned for his brilliance and practical approach in halachic rulings and in running all communal matters in Jerusalem and worldwide.
Stamps on leaves 34-35 of Tehillim: "Shmuel Kimchi".
2, 7-38, 43-46, 39-42, 47-109, 111-130; [1], 48 leaves. Lacking 9 leaves: leaves 3-6, 110 of Tehillim (replaced in photocopy), and 4 final leaves (49-52) of Maamadot. Leaves 39-42 of Tehillim bound out of sequence, after leaf 46. 21 cm. Fair-poor condition. Stains, including dampstains and traces of past dampness, with mold. Extensive worming, with significant damage to text, repaired with paper. Large open tears to title page of Tehillim and other leaves, with significant damage to border and text, mostly repaired with paper (border of Tehillim title page replaced in photocopy). New binding.
Siddur Tefillat Yisrael, Sephardi-rite, with laws, piyyutim and supplications. Jerusalem: R. Yisrael Bak, 1842. The first siddur to be printed in Jerusalem.
The title page lauds the superiority and sanctity of the book, which was printed in Jerusalem in absolute holiness, and "all those involved in this holy production were Jewish".
Many approbations from Sephardi Torah scholars of Jerusalem, Safed, Tiberias and Hebron, and from Ashkenazi Torah scholars of Jerusalem (Rebbe Aharon Moshe of Brody, R. Yeshaya Bardaki son-in-law of R. Yisrael of Shklow and R. Moshe Rivlin Doresh LeTzion – the Maggid of Shklow). The "approbation" by the Jerusalemite rabbis printed on the verso of the title page is an authorization from the end of 1840 granting R. Yisrael Bak the exclusive rights to print books in Jerusalem. Additional approbation from the rabbis of Jerusalem (dated Iyar 1842) on leaf 3.
In his introduction, the printer recounts of the ordeals he underwent in Safed: "After all the travails that befell me – pestilence, sword, and hunger… a great earthquake… I was compelled to ascend to the mountain and I have established my dwelling here… Jerusalem". He thanks Yosef Amzalag "who assisted me in printing the siddur".
The renowned printer R. Yisrael Bak (1797-1874), a disciple of leaders of the Chassidic movement, Rebbe Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev and R. Yisrael of Ruzhin. Born in Berditchev, he was involved in the printing profession already in his youth, and in 1815, he established the (second) printing press in Berditchev, where he printed some 26 books before immigrating to Eretz Israel. Reputedly, he designed the Slavita typeface. Following his immigration to Eretz Israel, ca. 1831, he settled in Safed, where he established a printing press which operated for a short while, until the great 1837 earthquake which completely destroyed the town. In 1840 he established a printing press in Jerusalem – the first printing press in Jerusalem to print Hebrew books and the only press in the city until the 1860s.
For more information about R. Yisrael Bak and his printing press in Safed and Jerusalem, see: Sh. HaLevy, Sifrei Yerushalayim HaRishonim, Jerusalem 1976, pp. 15-27; Meir Benayahu, R. Yisrael Bak's Printing Press in Safed and the Beginning of Printing in Jerusalem, Areshet, IV, Jerusalem 1966, pp. 271-295.
152 leaves. 15 cm. Stains, including minor dampstains. Minor worming, not affecting text. Minor marginal tears to several leaves, repaired with paper. Inscriptions. Stamps. New leather binding.
Third Hebrew book printed in Jerusalem. Sh. HaLevy, no. 4 (apart from the two books which preceded it, HaLevy lists another publication: Broadside for righteous women in Eretz Israel and abroad, ibid. no. 2).
Additional engraved title page. Engraved illustrations based on the Amsterdam 1695 edition. A large engraved map of Eretz Israel (folded plate) is bound at the end of the Haggadah.
Ownership inscription on the title page: "I acquired it from R. Be'er son of R. Chaim, Shimon son of R. Mordechai of Itingen".
[2], 52 leaves + folding plate (map). 25 cm. Fair-good condition. Stains, including dampstains and dark stains. Worming affecting text, repaired in part with paper. Tears, including open tears, repaired with paper. Map in good-fair condition: Stains. Worming, slightly affecting engraving. Minor tears to folds. New leather binding.
Yaari 199; Otzar HaHaggadot 300.
Hebrew and Judeo-Arabic, paragraph after paragraph. The text of the Haggadah is in vocalized, square script, while the Judeo-Arabic translation is in Rashi script or unvocalized square script. The text of Birkat HaMazon and Nishmat at the end of the Haggadah were printed without vocalization.
Illustration of the Seder plate on leaf 15. Decorative initial word panel on p. 22b.
Handwritten inscriptions on the endpapers: "Benyamin David Hayaem", in Hebrew and English.
3-40 pages, 41-72 leaves. 14.5 cm. Partially printed on bluish paper. Fair-good condition. Stains. Worming, affecting text. Marginal open tears to some leaves, including open tears slightly affecting text on final leaf. Detached leaves. Early leather binding, detached, with worming and defects (leaves from a Marathi translation of the Bible were used in binding).
Yaari 750; Otzar HaHaggadot 1018; Yaari, HaDfus HaIvri BeArtzot HaMizrach, Bombay, no. 5.
Particularly scarce Haggadah. The Bibliography of the Hebrew Book lists this Haggadah based on two copies (one in photocopy) lacking many leaves. One of these copies (from the Sassoon collection) is held in the NLI (and digitized); it is damaged and mostly lacking. The copy offered here is presumably the only extant complete copy.