Piskei ha-Rosh or Asheri, Asher ben Jehiel (Rosh), Scribe: Eliezer, [15th century]

Piskei ha-Rosh or Asheri is a summation of halakhic decisions of early codifiers and commentators on tractates Shavu’ot, Bava Batra and Sanhedrin, by Asher ben Jehiel (Germany, d. 1327). The glosses to the text are by Israel of Krems. Both the text and the gloss appear in standard editions of the Talmud. The name of the scribe, Eliezer, is highlighted on fol. 11v. The present volume contains fragments of a manuscript and they have been bound out of order.

Sotheby’s is grateful to Menahem Schmelzer z”l and Benjamin Richler for cataloguing this manuscript.

Provenance

Solomon Halberstam (shelf no. 325)

Physical Description

17 leaves of parchment fragments, of varying size (largest 14 x 9 ½ inches; 355 x 242 mm), written in brown ink in Ashkenazic semi-cursive script, fragments variously mounted, laid down, or inlaid, many severely browned and stained, losses to text from ink oxidation and worming. Half maroon morocco; boards sunned and slightly warped.

Literature

Hirschfeld (ms. no. 74)