KALONYMUS BEN KALONYMUS MASSEKHETH PURIM (TRACTATE PURIM), MANUSCRIPT ON PAPER AMSTERDAM, 1752

13 leaves (5 ¼ x 3 3/8 in.; 133 x 85 mm). Ruled in pencil, written in Ashkenazic cursive script in brown ink, illustrated title-page, 4 full-page illustrations, and 3 tailpieces in ink and gouache, catchwords, original foliation in ink; several blanks lacking, dampstaining with fading of some text, first quire loose. Contemporary red morocco paneled gilt, central gilt lozenge, marbled endpapers; upper board rubbed, upper joint cracked, front flyleaves loose, minor losses to spine ends.

Sale, Sotheby's New York, 26 June 1985 (Important Judaica, Books, Manuscripts and Works of Art), lot 72

Abraham Meir Habermann, "The Editions and Prints of 'Massekheth Purim," Areshet, (1972), vol. 5, pp. 136–144; Israel Davidson, Parody in Jewish Literature (New York, 1907), pp. 174, 188–191

Illustrations

The title-page is decorated with an architectural border; written within a cartouche above the lintel is the title: Massekhet Purim.  Harlequins in brightly colored costumes standing upon the bases of Corinthian columns flank the central text: “belonging to the young man, his honor … written in the year of Cursed be Haman, Blessed be Mordecai.”  Although the owners name has been eradicated, presumably by a later owner of the manuscript, the intact chronogram reveals a date of 1752.  Below, another cartouche between the bases of the columns contains the phrase “In Amsterdam.”

Fol. 4r:  Within a cartouche set upon a mantel and surmounted by brightly plumed birds, a man in contemporary dress raises his glass as if toasting the reader.  Beside him is a bottle on a table.

Fol. 4v: A musician playing a hurdy-gurdy.

Fol. 6r:  A wayfarer smoking a pipe is set within an elaborate, draped frame.  The whole beneath floral swags.

Fol. 8v:  Enclosed within a rondel, flanked by plumes, a harlequin holds a Pilsener glass.

Fol. 10v:  Seven playing cards: The King of Hearts, Queen of Spades, Jack of Diamonds, Ten of Spades, Nine of Clubs and Eight of Hearts strewn haphazardly with the Jack of Clubs being the topmost card and at the center of the pile.

Fol. 12r: Floral tailpiece.

Fol. 13r:  Crowned escutcheon with lions rampant; within the remains of a colophon:  "I, the scribe …"  As with the owner's name on the title-page, the scribe's name has been eradicated.

A rare illustrated example of Massekhet Purim, a fictitious Talmudic tractate that parodies the style and language of classical Talmudic texts. The parodying of familiar literary forms such as the Talmud was centered around the celebration of Purim, a festive holiday that occasioned widespread merrymaking and wine-drinking. The father of parody in the style of the Talmud, Kalonymus ben Kalonymus, was born in 1286 and lived in Italy from 1318; he was one of the outstanding physicians of his time. His most famous work is Massekhet Purim (Tractate Purim), written in the language and form of a talmudic tractate. Its four chapters contain a humorous debate regarding food, drink, and drunkenness on Purim.

Although other works by the same author met with no opposition, Kalonymus' Massekhet Purim was frowned upon by extremist rabbis who considered a parody in talmudic style to be a sacrilege. They banned reading the book and even condemned it to be burned.  It therefore became rare and passed from hand to hand in manuscript. In the nineteenth century it was printed anonymously by various publishers, sometimes supplemented by other facetious Purim parodies of a later date.

The present manuscript is nearly identical to the version printed in John Henry Mai's Bibliothecae Uffenbachianae (Hallae,1720) from a 1703 manuscript.  According to the dated, yet still valuable, information in Davidson, aside from the original manuscript, only three other copies of this version are known, all in the Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and none of which is illustrated.