Two Collections of Fables, [17th-19th century]

The first volume is a 17th-18th-century copy of Mishlei Shualim, a collection of animal fables by Berechiah ben Natronai ha-Nakdan, a fabulist, translator, and grammarian who lived in Normandy and England around the turn of the thirteenth century. The work was translated mostly from the French fable collection Ysopet by Marie de France (ca. 1170), and also from the lost Latin translation of Aesop's Romulus, as well as from other collections of Oriental origin. This manuscript was copied from the printed edition of Mantua, 1557, and includes the preface by the printer.

The second is a 19th-century copy of Kalila and Dimna, a cycle of fables that originated in India in the third century C.E.; they were collected and compiled in Kashmir. This Hebrew translation was adapted from the Arabic version by Jacob ben Eleazar. According to a note at the beginning by Isser Goldblum, this transcription was copied from Paris, Bibliothèque nationale Ms. héb. 1282 by Alexander ben Ber Goldberg. Ber Goldberg added some glosses. Goldblum presented the manuscript to Halberstam.

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

Provenance

Vol. 2: Solomon Halberstam (shelf no. 50)

Physical Description

Vol. 1: 80 leaves on paper, 6 5/8 x 4 ½ inches; 169 x 115 mm, written in Sephardic semi-cursive script, catchwords, modern foliation in pencil; some ink erosion, soiling, minor dampstaining, a few leaves repaired, library stamp on first and last leaves. Marbled boards, morocco spine; edges rubbed.

Vol. 2: 91 leaves, 9 x 7 inches; 230 x 178 mm, written in Rashi script, modern foliation in pencil; some soiling and staining, last few leaves loose, last leaf repaired, library stamp in red on first and last leaves. Marbled boards, cloth spine; somewhat worn.

Literature

Vol. 1: Hirschfeld (ms. no. 502)          

Vol. 2: Hirschfeld (ms. no. 501)