Sound And Vision: The Prints of Shepard Fairey

Shepard Fairey b.1950 BLACK SABBATH RED/BLACK CROSS Screenprint in colors, 2013, signed in pencil, dated and numbered 32/125, on wove paper, published by Obey Giant, Los Angeles, unframed sheet approx.: 609 by 457 mm 24 by 18 in

View 1 of Lot 71: BLACK SABBATH RED/BLACK CROSS

black sabbath red/black cross

Shepard Fairey b.1950 BLACK SABBATH "THE END" Screenprint in colors, 2016, signed in pencil, dated and inscribed 'AP', an artist's proof aside from the numbered edition of 325, on wove paper, published by Obey Giant, Los Angeles, unframed sheet approx.: 610 by 457 mm 24 by 18 in

View 1 of Lot 70: BLACK SABBATH "THE END"

black sabbath "the end"

Shepard Fairey b.1950 BLACK SABBATH RED/BLACK CRESCENT Screenprint in colors, 2013, signed in pencil, dated and numbered 32/125, on wove paper, published by Obey Giant, Los Angeles, unframed sheet approx.: 609 by 457 mm 24 by 18 in

View 1 of Lot 72: BLACK SABBATH RED/BLACK CRESCENT

black sabbath red/black crescent

The Supreme Vault: 1998 - 2018

Supreme Rosa Acosta Air Freshner, 2009 Supreme x Kuumba Incense Holder, 2009 Supreme Inflatable Chair Amber, 2018, in original box Supreme Sand Timer Red, 2015 Supreme Black Sabbath Rug Black, 2016

a group of 5 supreme home accessories

Rock & Roll

Ozzy Osbourne Blizzard of Ozz. Jet Records, 1980 LP in the original record sleeve (catalogue number JETLP 234), signed by Ozzy Osbourne, Bob Daisley, Lee Kerslake, and Randy Rhoads, with the photographic portrait of the band on the rear cover (first issue), with the original printed inner sleeve; bottom sleeve seam splitting, creasing and edgewear, just a trace of ringwear, stray spots and soiling to inner sleeve. Ozzy’s debut solo record, signed by the band. Following his firing from Black Sabbath in 1979 due to his substance abuse and refusal to rehearse new material, Ozzy set off on his own. With guitarist Randy Rhoads and bassist Bob Daisley, the three wrote most of the album in Monmouth, Wales. Once drummer Lee Kerslake joined the band, the group recorded the record at Ridge Farm Studio, one of the earliest residential recording studios in England. At the time, the band had in fact dubbed themselves “The Blizzard of Ozz,” and were expecting the album to be credited to that name, with Osbourne’s full name in smaller print (as seen on the first issue of the “Crazy Train” single). But when the record was released, Ozzy’s name took center stage, and it cemented his new band as a solo act with a backing band in their audience’s minds. The record features some of the greatest songs of his career, including “Crazy Train,” “Mr. Crowley,” and “Suicide Solution,” the latter of which attracted controversy after being linked with a suicide in October 1984. The record is frequently named one of the greatest metal records of all time.

View 1 of Lot 116: Ozzy Osbourne | A signed copy of Ozzy's solo debut

ozzy osbourne | a signed copy of ozzy's solo debut

RIP Holographic, 2016 Pissed, 2015 Gross Black, 2018 Kooks, 2011 Phone Green, 2010 Black Sabbath Cross, 2016 Jordan Teal, 1998 Bruce, 2013 F*ck, 2011 Smoking Lips, 2016 World Trade Centre , 2013 Deez Nuts Black, 2014 Fugazi, 2015 Dumb Ass, 2014 AK, 2017 7 Pin, 2005

supreme buttons & pins [16 pieces]

The Halpern Judaica Collection: Tradition and Treasure | Part II

Zemirot Shabbat (Deluxe Edition of Sabbath Table Songs), Miriam Gershtnkoren, [Ashdod: Gershtnkoren Studio, ca. 2010]

Zemirot Shabbat (Deluxe Edition of Sabbath Table Songs), Miriam Gershtnkoren, [Ashdod: Gershtnkoren Studio, ca. 2010] Designed by Miriam Gershtnkoren, a Tel Aviv native who, together with her husband Yisrael, runs Gershtnkoren Studio in Ashdod, the present volume is a modern artistic interpretation of the classic bentsher. Herein, the Kiddush blessings for the Sabbath and festivals are printed together with the zemirot (various songs and poems traditionally recited at the Sabbath table)—with separate sections for Friday night, Shabbat day, and the third meal—and the birkat ha-mazon (grace after meals). Each opening features a different border design beautifully framing the text of both pages, and vignettes depicting domestic and other scenes are distributed throughout. In addition, three full-page miniatures portray a (Sabbath eve?) market, Jerusalem cityscapes, and a rebuilt Holy Temple. Produced on thick, high-quality paper and bound in a luxurious tooled leather binding, Zemirot shabbat constitutes both a highly usable liturgy and a magnificent objet d’art. Physical Description 104 pages (11 1/2 x 8 in.; 292 x 202 mm) on paper. Title within architectural frame; each opening framed by a different border; various vignettes distributed throughout; full-page miniatures on pp. 3, 13, 104; enlarged incipits, initials, and initial word panels; general artistic pallet includes black, red, sepia, and gold, with highlights in green, blue, orange, etc; stiff paper dividers between pp. 36-37, 58-59, 86-87. Artist mistakenly left out text in transition from p. 39 to p. 40; minor soiling in lower margin of p. 64. Extensively gilt-tooled thick gray leather, slightly scuffed, with depressed illuminated vignette on paper at center of upper board; spine in five compartments with raised bands, somewhat worn; title lettered in black and gilt on spine; turn-ins gilt; black and gold silk bookmark; stiff paper flyleaves and pastedowns. Housed in a cloth-covered slipcase, slightly worn and stained. Literature http://www.gershtn.com/Item.aspx?Id=74

View 1 of Lot 151: Zemirot Shabbat (Deluxe Edition of Sabbath Table Songs), Miriam Gershtnkoren, [Ashdod: Gershtnkoren Studio, ca. 2010]

zemirot shabbat (deluxe edition of sabbath table songs), miriam gershtnkoren, [ashdod: gershtnkoren studio, ca. 2010]

521 folios 50cm by 37cm, square Ashkenazi script, mostly 30 lines per page in dark brown ink, commentary is written on the three outer margins, in smaller round script, up to 105 lines per page. Two conjoint vellum leaves were attached to the end of the manuscript by the nineteenth century in the Library in Nuremberg, and two loose paper leaves at the beginning and end of the manuscript were part of the binding. The manuscript is composed of sixty-seven quires, mostly of eight conjoint leaves each, except for quires IV of nine leaves, one added at the end for additional text; XLV and XLVI of ten leaves each; LXIV of four leaves, with text of Torah reading; LXV and LXVI are one quire of eight leaves: quire LXVI of six leaves was originally inserted between the two leaves of quire LXV, this and the last quire LXVII consist of Haftara readings. Quires XXXIII-XLV are incorrectly bound and should be rearranged: XXXII,XL-XLIV, XXXIV, XLV, XXXV-XXXIX, XLVI. Ruling by stylus (see especially fols.273ff.).Pricking noticeable in all four margins.

521 folios 50cm by 37cm, square Ashkenazi script, mostly 30 lines per page in dark brown ink, commentary is written on the three outer margins, in smaller round script, up to 105 lines per page. Two conjoint vellum leaves were attached to the end of the manuscript by the nineteenth century in the Library in Nuremberg, and two loose paper leaves at the beginning and end of the manuscript were part of the binding. The manuscript is composed of sixty-seven quires, mostly of eight conjoint leaves each, except for quires IV of nine leaves, one added at the end for additional text; XLV and XLVI of ten leaves each; LXIV of four leaves, with text of Torah reading; LXV and LXVI are one quire of eight leaves: quire LXVI of six leaves was originally inserted between the two leaves of quire LXV, this and the last quire LXVII consist of Haftara readings. Quires XXXIII-XLV are incorrectly bound and should be rearranged: XXXII,XL-XLIV, XXXIV, XLV, XXXV-XXXIX, XLVI. Ruling by stylus (see especially fols.273ff.).Pricking noticeable in all four margins.Five hands, related to the contents of the Mahzor, wrote the manuscriptHand 1. Fols.1v-32v with preliminary prayers.Hand 2. Fols. 33v-233 scribe of the first part. The name of the scribe who wrote the first part of the Mahzor and some sections of the second part is Matan Ben Menahem. The letters of his full name are marked on fol.400. Additional marked letters: Matan appears on fols.143v, 304, 314. However this scribe did not write the colophon. Hand 3. Fols.234-512v second part of the Mahzor, written together with hand 2 of part one.Hand 4. Fols.513-528v the Haftarot ending with the colophon of 1331.Hand 5. The scribe who wrote the commentaries is named Yaakov. His name is indicated by marked letters on fol.437.Colophon, fol.528v(517v) '...I wrote this mahzor for Rabbi Joshua bar Isaac and completed it on Thursday, the fourth of Elul in 5091 (August 8, 1331)...'THE GIANT NUREMBERG MAHZOR IS ONE OF THE MOST SUMPTUOUS ASHKENAZI MAHZORIM EXTANT INCLUDING A RICH TREASURE OF PIYYUTIMPROVENANCE:(1)The manuscript belonged to the Jewish Community of Nuremberg until the expulsion of the Jews from the city in 1499. It was then taken to the municipal library of Nuremberg (shelf marked Ms.centus, Nr.100).(2)In 1808, during the Napoleonic conquest of Nuremberg, eleven leaves were cut out of the manuscript. Five of these detached leaves found their way to the Meir Selig Goldschmidt collection from Frankfurt. After his daughter's marriage in 1918, they were transferred to the Heinrich Eisemann collection. In 1937, one page was given to S.Z. Schocken. In 1938, he bought three more pages, while the fifth leaf is in the Ernst Bodenheimer collection in New York.(3) The manuscript was acquired by the Schocken Library in Jerusalem in 1951.TEXT:The Nuremberg Mahzor, like other Ashkenazi mahzorim consists mainly of a large section of piyyutim (liturgical hymns), which are added to the regular prayers, for holidays and special Sabbaths. However, the ordinary prayers of Shahrit (morning), Minhah (afternoon) and Ma'ariv (evening), including the regular Shmoneh-esreh (eighteen) benedictions, are lacking here and normally do not appear in an Ashkenazi mahzor.Dividing the giant Mahzor into two parts, at times bound in two volumes, was quite common in Ashkenazi mahzorim of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, mainly because of their content, but also because of their size. The assumption that there are two parts to the Nuremberg Mahzor is supported by the fact that following the Additional Occasional benedictions, there is a blank folio 233v (later foliation:227v), which is followed by the prayers for the New Year on fol. 234 (228). Moreover, the first part was written by two scribes, whereas the second was written by three scribes, and only one of them is the main scribe of the first part (see Scribes below). The Nuremberg Mahzor was, however, never bound in two volumes, since the recto of fol.233 (227) contains the end of the text of the occasional benedictions, and is not blank.The First PartPreliminary SectionThe Mahzor starts with a preliminary section (fols. 1v-32v), written by a scribe who did not participate in the rest of the manuscript. The section begins on fol.1v with introductory benedictions to the prayers. This formula is repeated in the beginning of the morning prayer of the New Year in the second part on fol. 321 (315). It continues with some instructions and additional piyyutim for different occasions. Fols.2v-7 are variations of Shahrit (morning) and Mussaf (additional) prayers for Sabbaths and holidays. Fol.8 piyyutim for Shabbat Bereshit (Genesis Sabbath, first after Sukkot); fol.10 Shabbat and Rosh Hodesh (new moon); fol.12 Selihot (penitential hymns) for Mondays and Thursdays; piyyutim for Sabbaths of pericopes; (fol.17v) Vayera;(fol.18) Toldot; (fol18v) Hanukkah; fol.26v-32v Selihot for tenth of Tevet.Yearly PrayersThe Mahzor then follows (from fol.33v on) the yearly calendar, written by the main scribe of the first part. It starts with the piyyutim for the Four Special Sabbaths and for the Feast of Purim. From here on most of the piyyutim have an extensive commentary in the margins. Fol.33v Sabbath Shekalim; fol.40 (later foliation 39) Sabbath Zakhor; fol.47 (46) Purim; fol.52v (51v) Esther scroll; fol.60 (59) Sabbath Parah; fol.64 (63) Sabbath Hakodesh; fol.69v (68) Great Sabbath before Passover.Passover SectionFol.78.v (added cut out fol.76a v) First Day of Passover; Fol.91 (88) Second Day of Passover; fol. 98v (95v) Sabbath during Passover; fol.102 (99) Song of Songs; fol.107 (104) Seventh Day of Passover; fol.120 (added cut out fol.116a) Last Day of Passover. Following are collections of piyyutim for six Sabbaths between Passover and for Shavu'ot (Pentecost).Shavu'ot SectionFol.145 (141) First Day of Shavu'ot, fol.154v (added cut out fol.149a v) Aqdadut milin, piyyut for the Ten Commandments; fol.171 (165) Second Day of Shavu'ot; fol.180 (174) Scroll of Ruth.Fol.186 (180) Sabbath Beha'alotkha; fol.189v 9183v) Scroll of Lamentations; fol.194 (188) Ninth of Av; fol.219v (213v) Sabbath Nahamu.Additional Occasional PrayersFollowing are piyyutim: for Wedding on fol.223.(217), for Circumcision fol.229v(223v), and for Sabbath before New Year fol.231v(225v). It is possible that these occasional piyyutim were placed here because this may have been the end of the intended first part of the Mahzor. Second PartThe second part consists of prayers for the New Year, Day of Atonement and Sukkot.The following quires 32-45 (originally fols.249-362) were apparently wrongly bound during the seventeenth century, when the entire volume was probably bound by a Christian binder, who could not read Hebrew, mixed the quires and thereby the order of the prayers and piyyutim of New Year and Day of Atonement (see Codicology below). This error in binding was apparently made in the Municipal Library of Nuremberg, before the early foliation of the nineteenth century, since this foliation does not take into account the correct order of the prayers in the Feasts.The correct order of the folios and the quires according to the sequence of prayers is as follows:Fol.234-256 (228-250) which are quires 30-32, plus fols.313-319 (307-313), which are the first part of quire 40: Eve of First Day of the New Year. Fols. 319v-320v (313-314v) end of quire 40: Eve of Second Day of New Year(sic). Fol.321-329 (315-323) quire 41: Morning prayer of First Day of New Year; Fols.329-339 (323-333) quires 42 and part of 43: Mussaf for First Day of New Year. Fols. 340-352 (334-346) part of quire 43 and quire 44: Mussaf for Second Day of New Year. Fols. 256-272 (259-266) quire 34: Fast of Gedaliah; fol.271 (265) other Penitential Days. Quire 45:fol.353 (347) Sabbath of Penitence; fol.355-362 (349-356), and quire 33: fols. 257-264 (251-258), as well as quires 35-39: fols.273-312 (267-306) and most of quire 46: fols.363-missing 371 (357-363) Day of Atonement Eve. Fol.372 (364), continuing with quire 47 to part of quire 51: fols.373-407v (356-399v): Morning prayers of Day of Atonement. Fol.408v (400) Mussaf for Day of Atonement. Fol.461 (450) Ne'ilah (concluding prayer) for Day of Atonement. Fol.472v Sabbath between Day of Atonement and Sukkot.Sukkot SectionFol.474 (463) Eve of First Day of Sukkot; fol.477 (466v) Eve of Second Day of Sukkot; fol.479v (468v) Morning of Second Day of Sukkot; fol.484v (475v) Morning of Sabbath in Sukkot; fol. 485v (9476v) Book of Ecclesiastes; fol.491v(481v) Hoshaanah for Sabbath; fol.497 (486) Eve of Shmini Atzeret; fol.504v (493v) eve of second day of Shmini Atzeret; fol.5049 (498) Beginning of Torah reading: Hatan Torah and Hatan Bereshit; fol.512v (501v) Simhat Torah (Joy of the Torah).HaftarotThe biblical passages form the Prophets, which are recited after the reading of the Torah, were written by another hand, the one that writes the colophon on fol.528v(517v). This last section of the manuscript is now bound erroneosly in three quires (65-67). Quire 66 of 6 leaves, fols. 515-520 (504-509) should be placed in the middle of quire 65 of 2 leaves 513 and 514 (502-503)to form one quire of 8 leaves. Quire 67 on fols.521-528 (570-517)follows the text on fol.514. The text of the Haftarot for the morning prayers of Passover, Pentecost, New Year, Day of Atonement and for Sukkot are written in one column, while their Aramaic Targum is in the second column aside. The Haftara for Passover starts on fol.513 (502). The Haftara for the first day of Passover starts in Joshua 3:5, and not as was common in Ashkenazi rite in Joshua 5:2. It continues on fols.515-519 (504-508); Pentecost starts on fols. 519v-520v.(508v-509v), continues on fols.514 (503), and then on fol.521 (510);New Year's Haftarot are on fols.521v-522v (510v-511v). Instead of the Aramaic Targum to the first day of New Year, in I Samuel 1:1-2:10, an enlarged prayer of Hanna appears in Aramaic in the side column; Day of Atonement on fols.522v-524 (511v-513); Sukkot on fols.524v-528 (513-517).Peculiar PrayersThere are some prayers and piyyutim, which are not usual in Ashkenazi Mahzorim. Examples are the piyyutim for the Tenth of Tevet, the day the Jerusalem Temple was destroyed (fol.26v). Amongst them is one by an Italian author, Rabbi Hayyim Palti'el (fol.30).ILLUMINATION1. Full page painted portal(fol.1v) at the opening of the Mahzor. The top elongated rectangular part is composed of four Gothic pointed trefoil arches, topped by building roofs with pinnacles. The initial-word in the center arches is written in gold over a pink dense field of squares. The flanking arches expose trefoil windows, with an orange criss-cross ground. The two supporting columns are decorated with hybrid dragons, with tails ending in foliate scrolls. They have foliate type capitals and bases resting on the backs of an elephant on the right and a bear on the left. 2. Twenty-one painted initial-word panels at important sections of the yearly prayers, mostly in the first part of the Mahzor. They are on fols. 33v, 40(39), 47v(46v), 52v (51v), 60(59), 64 (63), 69v(68v), 78(76), 91(88), 98v(95v), 102(99), 107(104), 120(116a), 145(141), 171(165), 180(174), 194v(188), 321v(315v), 340(334), 364(357a), 372v(364av), 475(464). Sixteen of these panels are in the first part of the Mahzor, and only five are in the second part. Most panels are elongated rectangles, with the initial-word covered in gold leaf, mostly stamped with small rosettes. All of the panels but one, fol.98v(95v), are filled with a densely decorated ground of consecutive small squares (e.g. fols.33v, 91, 180), lozenges (e.g. fols.40, 102, 364) or roundels (e.g. fols.51v, 340) in different colours: blue, orange, pink, green or magenta.The panels are framed either by several lines and fillets of different colors (e.g. fols.33v, 40, 364), or by a thicker band of geometric (e.g. fols.102, 51v, 107, 145), and foliate motifs (e.g. fols.91, 180). Some have two thicker bars flanking the initial-word (e.g. fols.51v, 68v, 321v, 340), decorated with geometric forms or foliate scrolls. Some of them have small animals (e.g.fol.68v), or birds (e.g. fol.321v) interspersed within them. One of them (fol.47v) has two roundels on the side frames, filled with a blue bird on the left and a seated bear holding a banner on the right. Another frame (fol.120) with interspersed animals within the foliate scrolls, exposes four lions in the corners of the panel, a deer on top and a camel below. In the most elaborate panel (fol.78v) the ground of lozenges is in three colors: blue, pink and magenta, topped by a double trefoil arch, flanked by bars decorated with four hybrids within the medallions. One unique panel was probably done by a different artist (fol.98v), who mistreated two of the Hebrew letters in the panel (bet and final khaf). The ground of the panel is done using a pen, in a grisaille-like style, exposing foliate scrolls interspersed with two dogs hunting a hare on top; a goat, two dragons and a dog hunting a deer at the bottom.3. Many large initial-words in black ink surrounded by pen flourishes in red, mostly in the second part of the Mahzor. The large initial-words are over the most important sections of the prayers, where there are not painted panels. Only five of them are in the first part of the Mahzor (fols.154, 165, 182v, 189v, 194v), and eleven are in the second part (fols.234, 261v, 348, 355v, 408v, 443v, 461v, 479v, 485v, 497v, 506). All but one (fol. 355v Kol Nidrei) are written in black, surrounded by pen flourishes in red. The one on fol.355v is written in red with black flourishes. Many of them spread over the entire text space, while others are over some part of the text.4. Many smaller initial-words at the beginning of most of the piyyutim, either in red, black or alternating red and black. 5. The commentary written in smaller script in the outer margins as carmina figurata type, forming different geometric shapes, such as roundels, lozenges,triangles and tapering elongated rectangles. Some are outlined in red ink. This may have been done by the scribe who wrote the commentary, or one of the main scribes.6. Some linear decorations in acrostic to names of authors of piyyutim, as well as to the main scribe of the Mahzor: Matania Ben Menahem. His name is indicated by marked letters within the text: (fol.143v - a flower upon the name Matan; fol.304 - Matania; fol.400 - Matan ben Menachem; fol.314 - Matan). The name of the scribe who wrote the commentaries is also marked (fol.437 - Yaakov). Some linear decorations in acrostic to names of authors of piyyutim (fol.462v- Meir bar Yitzhak; fol. 134v - Yoseph bar Shmuel Tov Elem).7. One text illustration of a shofar on New Year (fol.343). A text illustration of a curved shofar is sketched in red ink beside the sentence 'u'bitko'a shofar' (and when the shofar is blowing), part of the piyyut 'Adar ve-Hod' recited in New Year (fol.343).8. Some of the catch-words are illustrated with brown ink: a stork (in Hebrew Hasidah) illustrating the word 'Haside'ha'; a lamb's head tops the word 'tla'ei' (fol.420) (your followers - fol.23v); a flag upon the word 've-haniglot'(fol. 404); a hind's head top; a hoopoe's head with a large beak (fol.412)The style of the painted panels is directly related to the Upper Rhine during the first half of the fourteenth century. Most telling are the frames with animals, birds and hybrids interlaced with foliate scrolls. They resemble the soft undulating scrolls and animals of illuminated manuscripts from the Upper Rhine (see Ellen J. Beer, Beitaege zur oberrheinischen Buchmalerei, Basel & Stuttgart, 1959), somewhat later than the famous 'Gradual of St. Katharinenthal' of around 1312 (see E.J.Beer, 'Die Buchkust des Graduale von St. Katharinenthal', in Das Graduale von St Katharinenthal. Kommentar zur Faksimile Ausgabe des Graduale von St. Katharinenthal, ed. L. Wuetrich, Luzern, 1983, pp.103-224).Stylistically, it is hard to assume that the illumination was done later than 1331, when the colophon was written.We are grateful to Professor Bezalel Narkiss and Ariella Amar for their research and cataloging This lot contains 1 item(s).

nuremberg mahzor, prayers for the entire year, interspersed with illuminated initial-word panels at the beginning of important sections of feasts, special sabbaths and biblical scrolls, illuminated manuscript on vellum

Important Judaica

One of about twenty substantial pre-fifteenth-century Yemenite copies of Sefer zemannim to have come down to us.

One of about twenty substantial pre-fifteenth-century Yemenite copies of Sefer zemannim to have come down to us. The present lot comprises a large portion of the third book in the Mishneh torah series, entitled Sefer zemannim, which treats the feasts and fasts of the Jewish calendar. The material here preserved covers the labors prohibited on the Sabbath and holidays, the laws relating to Yom Kippur, Passover (including the text of the Haggadah), Rosh Hashanah, Sukkot, and fast days, the special rules governing the annual donation of a half-shekel required during Temple times, and the procedure for the sanctification of the New Moon. Like many other of his Yemenite manuscripts, David Solomon Sassoon purchased this volume from Elias Abraham Saadia Solomon Halfon of Aden (between mid-March 1928 and mid-July 1929), who went by the name Elias Abraham Morris when he later immigrated to New York City. It is one of about twenty known significant Yemenite copies of Sefer zemannim likely made before the fifteenth century and thus constitutes an important witness to this fundamental text of Jewish law. Contents pp. 1-89: Hilkhot shabbat 8:3b-8:13a, 10:6-10:18a, 11:4b-21:6a, 21:27b-22:22a, 23:8b-23:18a, 23:28b-25:1, 25:12b-end; pp. 90-124: Hilkhot eiruvin; pp. 124-130: Hilkhot shevitat asor; pp. 130-162: Hilkhot shevitat yom tov 1:1-7:21a, 8:6b-end; pp. 162-184: Hilkhot hamets u-matsah; pp. 184-189: Nussah ha-haggadah; pp. 189-214: Hilkhot shofar ve-sukkah ve-lulav 1:1-8:16a; pp. 215-220: Hilkhot shekalim 2:1b-4:1a; pp. 221-270: Hilkhot kiddush ha-hodesh 3:7b-4:9a, 4:17b-13:6a, 15:3b-end; pp. 270-272: Hilkhot ta‘aniyyot 1:1-1:2a, 2:5b-2:16a. Physical Description 272 of about 364 pages (9 1/4 x 6 3/4 in.; 236 x 170 mm) (likely original collation: [i1-6 lacking], ii1 [ii1-8,10 lacking], iii7 [iii1-2,4 lacking], iv10, v9 [v10 lacking], vi6 [vi1,5-6,8 lacking], vii9 [vii1 lacking], viii-x10, xi9 [xi8 lacking], xii-xiii10, xiv9 [xiv7 lacking], xv5 [xv1-4,7 lacking], xvi9 [xvi10 lacking], xvii9 [xvii1 lacking], xviii3 [xviii3-4,6-10 lacking], [xix1-6 lacking]) on Yemenite (unmarked) paper; modern pagination in pencil in Arabic numerals in or near upper-outer corners; first and final pages of each quire signed in pen at head and foot, respectively, in Hebrew characters (often damaged or obscured but visible on, e.g., pp. 12, 36-37, 66, 84, 104, 124, 203); written in Yemenite square (headings and incipits) and semi-cursive (text body) scripts in black ink; single-column text of twenty-four lines per page; ruled with a mastara (ruling board); justification of lines via dilation or contraction of final letters, insertion of space fillers, hyphenation, abbreviation, and slanted inscription of final words; original horizontal catchword in lower margin of last page of each quire (often damaged or obscured but visible on, e.g., pp. 12, 36, 66, 84, 104, 124, 202, 230, 266); modern horizontal catchwords in pencil in lower margins of pp. 112, 248; periodic Tiberian or Babylonian vocalization of text; Tetragrammaton abbreviated to three yodin in a row with a dot above the middle one; later halakhah numeration in ink in Hebrew characters on pp. 125-130, 193-195; corrections, strikethroughs, and/or marginalia (including in Judeo-Arabic) in primary and secondary hands, the marginalia often cropped. Enlarged (generally) red headings and incipits, sometimes accompanied by red rosettes; additional rubrication on pp. 25, 84, 124, 130, 162, 188-189, 199, 247, 249, 254-261, 268-270. Probably lacking about 46 folios: fourteen before p. 1, eleven after p. 272, four between pp. 220-221, three between pp. 2-3, two between pp. 54-55, 60-61, 248-249, 270-271, and one between pp. 4-5, 62-63, 66-67, 158-159, 214-215, 224-225; pp. 19-22 misbound and belong between pp. 4-5, pp. 23-24 misbound and belong between pp. 14-15, pp. 175-176 misbound and belong between pp. 180-181; frequent damage in margins, often affecting some text; damage more severe on pp. 17-20, 23-24, 63-66, 155-156, 161-162, 165-168, 171-172, 187-188, 269-272; pages closely cropped; scattered staining and dampstaining; some abrasion of lettering; rodent damage on pp. 61-84, 93-104, 107-120; repair in outer edges of pp. 121-122; pp. 271-272 loose. Modern brown buckram, slightly scratched; shelf mark lettered in gilt at base of spine; modern paper flyleaves and pastedowns. Literature Sassoon 1180 (not catalogued in Ohel Dawid)

View 1 of Lot 2: Mishneh Torah, Sefer Zemannim (Laws of Festivals), Rabbi Moses Maimonides, [Yemen, 14th century]

mishneh torah, sefer zemannim (laws of festivals), rabbi moses maimonides, [yemen, 14th century]

SASSOON: A Golden Legacy

FRAGMENT OF SIDDUR (DAILY PRAYER BOOK), RABBI SAADIAH GAON, [SYRIA: 12TH CENTURY]

FRAGMENT OF SIDDUR (DAILY PRAYER BOOK), RABBI SAADIAH GAON, [SYRIA: 12TH CENTURY] 8 pages (7 3/4 x 6 7/8 in.; 195 x 175 mm) on paper; modern pagination in pencil in Arabic numerals in upper-outer corners; written in Eastern (Syrian) semi-cursive script in black ink; single-column text of twenty-one to twenty-three lines per page; unruled; no catchwords; Tetragrammaton represented via yod-vav-yod combination, the yodin connected with an arced line and the vav supported by a kamats; superlinear dots used frequently to indicate abbreviations. All pages mounted on guards; several small unrepaired holes and tears, generally with minimal loss of text; a few larger repaired holes and tears, usually with greater loss of text (see, e.g., pp. 5-6); heavy staining on pp. 4-5. Modern brown buckram; paper tickets on spine with manuscript title and shelf mark; modern paper flyleaves and pastedowns. The largest of about fourteen extant privately held Genizah fragments containing parts of this famous liturgical work. Rabbi Saadiah Gaon (882-942), a masterful pioneer in the fields of halakhah, Hebrew grammar and philology, biblical exegesis and translation, and Jewish philosophy, was also a major authority on Jewish prayer and a prolific composer of liturgical poetry. Born in Egypt, he eventually made his way, via Palestine and Aleppo, to Babylonia, where he was appointed ga’on (eminence) of the Sura yeshiva in 928. In the introduction to his siddur, compiled in Babylonia and titled Kitāb jāmiʿ al-ṣalawāt wal-tasābīḥ (Book of All the Prayers and Praises), he explains that he wrote the work because of the profusion (and confusion) of the prayer texts then in circulation. His own book sought to reproduce the original, unadulterated versions of the daily, Sabbath, and festival prayers for the entire liturgical year, interspersed with clear halakhic instructions written in Judeo-Arabic. The siddur would, with time, exert significant influence on the prayer rites of the Jews of Afghanistan, Iran, Kurdistan, and Yemen. The present lot, discovered in the Cairo Genizah, constitutes a fragment of the ga’on’s work and can be divided in two: the first two leaves cover the last section of the author’s treatment of the Purim prayers, as well as the beginning of the Yom Kippur service; the latter two folios include hosha‘not recited on the festival of Sukkot, several of them composed by Rav Saadiah himself. While numerous Genizah manuscripts contain snatches of different parts of this siddur, only about fourteen are held privately, and of these the Sassoon fragment is the largest. (See also Menachem Zulay’s words of praise for the length and legibility of the Sassoon Genizah fragments containing liturgical poetry.) The ga’on’s prayer book was first published in its entirety in 1941, based primarily on MS Oxford, Bodleian Library, Hunt. 448, with variant readings provided by numerous Genizah fragments, including the present lot. Only its first two folios, however, were used for this purpose. Renowned scholar of early Jewish prayer Uri Ehrlich has demonstrated the importance of Genizah manuscripts in accurately reconstructing Rav Saadiah’s original text. The time has come for proper editorial use to be made of the latter two leaves as well. Literature Uri Ehrlich, “Le-heker nussah ha-tefillah be-siddur rav se‘adyah ga’on,” Pe‘amim 121 (2010): 67-99. Dan Greenberger, “Siddur rasag: iyyunim be-nussah, mivneh ve-hora’ot” (Ph.D. diss., Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, 2012), 68, 136-137. S.J. Halberstam, “Zu den Hoschanot des Gaon R. Saadia,” Monatsschrift für Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judentums 39,3 (1894-1895): 111. Alexander Kohut, “Die Hoschanot des Gaon R. Saadia: das erste Mal ediert und auf Grund dreier Yemen-Mss. kritisch beleuchtet,” Monatsschrift für Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judentums 37,11-12 (1892-1893): 506-517, 556-565. Saadiah Gaon, Siddur rav se‘adyah ga’on, ed. Israel Davidson, Simcha Assaf, and Issachar Joel, 2nd ed. (Jerusalem: Mekizei Nirdamim; Rubin Mass, 1963), 53 (introduction), 246 l. 7-252 l. 22, 257 l. 6-263 l. 10. David Solomon Sassoon, Ohel Dawid: Descriptive Catalogue of the Hebrew and Samaritan Manuscripts in the Sassoon Library, London, vol. 1 ([Oxford]: Oxford University Press; London: Humphrey Milford, 1932), 270 (no. 216), facsimile 16. Menachem Zulay, “Reshimat piyyutei ha-genizah be-osef sassoon,” Kiryat sefer 27 (1950): 82-96, at pp. 82, 88. Menachem Zulay, Ha-askolah ha-paytanit shel rav se‘adyah ga’on (Jerusalem: Schocken Institute, 1964), 44.

fragment of siddur (daily prayer book), rabbi saadiah gaon, [syria: 12th century]

Moses ben Abraham Provençal of Mantua was considered one of the greatest talmudists and most illustrious scholars of Italian Jewry in the Renaissance period. For many decades he was rabbi of the Italian community of Mantua, which as a result became a center of talmudic study. At the time, the Catholic Counter-Reformation was in effect and impacted the sociocultural climate greatly, even within the Jewish communities. As a result, Moses, known for his liberal-mindedness, was persecuted by zealous rabbis for innovations such as the introduction of a new formula for the Havdalah when a festival immediately followed the Sabbath. He became the subject of further censure when he ruled to invalidate a divorce on the grounds of its having been given under duress. He was expelled from office twice, and rabbis from as far as Turkey, Greece, and Safed became involved in the ensuing controversy. Ultimately his dismissal was not implemented, since he continued to act as rabbi of Mantua until his death.

Moses ben Abraham Provençal of Mantua was considered one of the greatest talmudists and most illustrious scholars of Italian Jewry in the Renaissance period. For many decades he was rabbi of the Italian community of Mantua, which as a result became a center of talmudic study. At the time, the Catholic Counter-Reformation was in effect and impacted the sociocultural climate greatly, even within the Jewish communities. As a result, Moses, known for his liberal-mindedness, was persecuted by zealous rabbis for innovations such as the introduction of a new formula for the Havdalah when a festival immediately followed the Sabbath. He became the subject of further censure when he ruled to invalidate a divorce on the grounds of its having been given under duress. He was expelled from office twice, and rabbis from as far as Turkey, Greece, and Safed became involved in the ensuing controversy. Ultimately his dismissal was not implemented, since he continued to act as rabbi of Mantua until his death. This volume of responsa was arranged by Moses’ grandson Eliezer Provençal. It includes 240 responsa composed from 1554-1575. Responsum no. 2 is a commentary on the 25 propositions appearing at the beginning of the second part of Moses ben Maimon’s Guide. Responsa nos. 64-69 are critiques of Azariah de Rossi’s Me’or Einayim. Responsum no. 69 is a letter by Leon Moscato to de Rossi. At the end of the volume is an index added by another hand. Sotheby’s is grateful to Menahem Schmelzer z”l and Benjamin Richler for cataloguing this manuscript. Provenance Solomon Halberstam (shelf no. 189) Physical Description 194 leaves on paper, 13 1/2 x 9 1/8 inches; 342 x 232 mm, written in black and brown inks in Italian semi-cursive script, catchwords, modern foliation in pencil; fols. 1–5 remargined at bottom, fols. 1–15 rather dampstained, with occasional fraying or loss, some very light dampstaining to upper margins throughout, fore-edge margin of fol. 87 repaired, scattered soiling, library stamps on fol. 2r and last page. Black library buckram; stained. Literature Hirschfeld (ms. no. 114); R. Bonfil, in Kiryat Sefer, 50 (1975), pp. 157-176, published responsum no. 2 from several manuscripts; D. Kaufmann, in Revue des Etudes Juives, 33 (1896), pp. 77-83, published responsum no. 69; the entire collection of responsa was printed from other manuscripts in 2 volumes (Jerusalem, 1989-1998)

View 1 of Lot 57: Collection of Responsa, Moses ben Abraham Provençal of Mantua, [Italy, late 16th-early 17th century]

collection of responsa, moses ben abraham provençal of mantua, [italy, late 16th-early 17th century]

A RICHLY ILLUSTRATED MINIATURE BOOK OF PRAYERS, SEDER BIRKAT HA-MAZON U-BIRKHOT HA-NEHENIN (GRACE AFTER MEALS AND OCCASIONAL BLESSINGS), WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED BY NATHAN BEN SAMSON OF MESERITCH (MORAVIA), 1728

A RICHLY ILLUSTRATED MINIATURE BOOK OF PRAYERS, SEDER BIRKAT HA-MAZON U-BIRKHOT HA-NEHENIN (GRACE AFTER MEALS AND OCCASIONAL BLESSINGS), WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED BY NATHAN BEN SAMSON OF MESERITCH (MORAVIA), 1728 29 folios (2 3/4 x 2 in.; 70 x 50 mm) on parchment; written in Ashkenazic square (main titles, headings, and text body) and semi-cursive vaybertaytsh (Yiddish instructions) scripts in brown ink; illustrations in ink and gouache; numerous owners’ inscriptions in pencil on parchment flyleaves, mostly in German or Yiddish, dating from 1804 to 1840, relating mainly to births. Illustrated title page; three decorated initial words; twenty-one text illustrations. Modern vellum over pasteboard in a matching slipcase. The early decades of the eighteenth century witnessed a remarkable resurgence in the production of elaborately decorated Hebrew manuscripts when wealthy court Jews in Germany and Central Europe began to commission exquisitely illustrated handwritten Hebrew books as luxury items. Miniature volumes such as this one, containing a variety of Hebrew prayers and blessings, were frequently commissioned by grooms and presented to their brides on the occasion of their marriage. An inscription penned at the top of the title page of this manuscript indicates that this book was a gift to the bride Sheynkha. Delicately wrought artistic creations, these manuscripts combined eminently readable Hebrew and Yiddish texts with pleasing decorations and illustrations. The present volume comprises the texts for birkat ha-mazon (grace after meals), birkhot ha-nehenin (blessings over foods and scents), keri’at shema al ha-mittah (recitation of the Shema before retiring), and kiddush levanah (blessing for the New Moon). The manuscript was created by Nathan ben Samson of Meseritsch, one of the most renowned scribe-artists of the eighteenth century. Nathan combined artistic talent with scribal dexterity to create lavish books of prayer and is known to have produced at least twenty-three illustrated Hebrew volumes between 1723 and 1739. His oeuvre covers a variety of liturgical texts, including Haggadot, Sabbath prayers, and the book of Psalms; the present volume, however, is one of only four known examples of Nathan’s Seder birkat ha-mazon. One of the other three such manuscripts, dated 1727, is in the collection of the Israel Museum (Ms. 180/066) and the other two, dated 1728 and 1729, are in private collections. The skillful use of color and attractively drawn scenes are emblematic of Nathan of Groß Meseritch’s lavish and vibrant artistic style. The decorative elements within this manuscript consist of a decorated title page, three ornamented initial words (ff. 3r, 16v, 17r), and twenty-one text illustrations painted in brilliant color. The subjects of the text illustrations are as follows: 1. A Jewish woman lighting Sabbath candles (f. 2r) 2. A man and a woman lighting a Hanukkah menorah: an illustration for the text inserted in the birkat ha-mazon on the holiday of Hanukkah (f. 4v) 3. The hanging of Haman and his ten sons: an illustration for the text inserted in the birkat ha-mazon on the holiday of Purim (f. 5v) 4. Four men seated at a table reciting the blessing over wine: an illustration for the blessing over wine (f. 11r) 5. A woman standing in a walled orchard: an illustration for the various blessings recited before eating fruit (f. 12v) 6. A plate of gourds and other vegetables: an illustration for the blessing recited before eating vegetables (f. 13r) 7. A woman standing in a walled garden beside three trees: an illustration for the various blessings recited upon smelling fragrant fruit (f. 13r) 8. An apothecary’s shop: an illustration for the blessing recited upon smelling fragrant spices (f. 13v) 9. Three lush potted flowering plants: an illustration for the blessing recited upon smelling fragrant trees and shrubs (f. 13v) 10. Townscape with a rainbow: an illustration for the blessing recited upon seeing a rainbow (f. 14r) 11. Townscape with anthropomorphic clouds: an illustration for the blessing recited upon seeing lightning (f. 14r) 12. Townscape of a walled city with angry clouds above: an illustration for the blessing recited upon hearing thunder (f. 14v) 13. A man on horseback sounding a horn, set between a leafy tree and a fortified town: an illustration for the blessing recited upon hearing good news and upon having positive experiences (f. 14v) 14. An image of a crowned king seated on a throne, flanked by three courtiers: an illustration for the blessing recited upon seeing royalty (f. 15r) 15. Three dwarfs standing beside a tall African native and an acrobat standing upside-down: an illustration for the blessing recited in praise of God “Who created mankind in many forms” (f. 15r) 16. A seascape, featuring three sailing vessels: an illustration for the blessing recited upon seeing the ocean (f. 15v) 17. A funeral scene with four men, dressed in black, carrying a bier on their shoulders: an illustration for the blessing recited upon hearing the news that someone has died (f. 15v) 18. A man sitting on his bed in front of two empty chairs: an illustration for the blessing recited upon recovering from an illness and rising from a sickbed (f. 16r) 19. An image of an angel (f. 21v) 20. An image of King David with his harp, illustrating the text of a chapter from Psalms (f. 24r) 21. An image of four men standing outdoors and looking up at the new moon: an illustration for the blessing of the New Moon (f. 28r) Literature Ernest M. Namenyi, “The Illumination of Hebrew Manuscripts after the Invention of Printing,” in Cecil Roth (ed.), Jewish Art: An Illustrated History (Greenwich, CN: New York Graphic Society, 1971), 159. Haviva Peled-Carmeli, Illustrated Haggadot of the Eighteenth Century (Jerusalem: Israel Museum, 1983), 32, and ill. nos. 40-41, 50-51, 66, 120. Menahem Schmelzer, “Decorated Hebrew Manuscripts of the Eighteenth Century in the Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America,” in Robert Dán (ed.), Occident and Orient: A Tribute to the Memory of Alexander Scheiber (Budapest: Adademiai Kiado, 1988), 331-351, at p. 342. Ursula and Kurt Schubert, Jüdische Buchkunst, vol. 2 (Graz: Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, 1992), 90-91. Edward van Voolen, “Nathan ben Simson of Meseritz’s Prayers for the New Moon,” in Adri K. Offenberg, Emile G.L. Schrijver, and F.J. Hoogewoud (eds.), Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana: Treasures of Jewish Booklore (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 1994), 68-69.

a richly illustrated miniature book of prayers, seder birkat ha-mazon u-birkhot ha-nehenin (grace after meals and occasional blessings), written and illustrated by nathan ben samson of meseritch (moravia), 1728

AUTOGRAPH COPY OF THE SERMON GIVEN BY THE BEN ISH HAI AT THE MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR SOLOMON DAVID SASSOON, BAGHDAD: 1894

AUTOGRAPH COPY OF THE SERMON GIVEN BY THE BEN ISH HAI AT THE MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR SOLOMON DAVID SASSOON, BAGHDAD: 1894 33 pages (8 1/8 x 5 1/2 in.; 205 x 140 mm) on paper (preceded by two introductory pages in the hand of David Solomon Sassoon); modern pagination in pencil in Arabic numerals in upper-outer corners; written in Baghdadi cursive script in black ink; generally twenty-two to twenty-four lines per page; justification of lines via dilation or contraction of final letters and insertion of dashes; no headers or catchwords; occasional vocalization; intermittent strikethroughs and corrections. Almost all pages mounted on guards; minor creasing along fold lines, with small nicks in outer edges; ink periodically faint or smudged (see esp. p. 8); small puncture on pp. 11-12, affecting only individual words. Modern brown buckram; paper tickets on spine with manuscript title and shelf mark in ink; modern paper flyleaves and pastedowns; Sassoon bookplate on pastedown of upper board. A homily written entirely in the hand of the great Rabbi Joseph Hayyim of Baghdad upon the passing of one of his close friends. As spiritual leader of Baghdadi Jewry and a master orator, Rabbi Joseph Hayyim delivered lectures and sermons to his community on topics of Jewish law and ethics both during the week and on Sabbaths. From time to time, he was also called upon to eulogize prominent Baghdadi Jews who had passed away. Such was the case when David Sassoon died in Poona in 1864, as well as when his son, Solomon David Sassoon, died in Bombay thirty years later, on Sunday, 10 Adar II 5654 (March 18, 1894). The present lot comprises the autograph copy of the sermon R. Joseph Hayyim gave at the memorial service held for Solomon David Sassoon at the Sassoon family home in Baghdad. According to a May 3, 1894 newspaper report, on April 5 of that year, after morning prayers, the service was announced in all the synagogues of the city, “and the courtyard of the [Sassoon] house was filled from one end to the other.” In his introductory remarks, R. Joseph Hayyim moved the audience to tears as he spoke of the deceased’s refined character, humility, philanthropy, and adherence to the dictates of Jewish law and tradition, even despite the temptations that normally accompany affluent lifestyles. He noted that the loss of this great man, “plucked while still tender,” was especially difficult for Sassoon’s young family, Bombay, and all of India. (Indeed, Sassoon was eulogized across the Middle and Far East, in places as far away as Hong Kong, Calcutta, and Jerusalem.) The sermon itself treated these themes at greater length, using the teaching in Avot 4:13 about the preeminence of “the crown of a good name” as a point of departure. Later that day, R. Joseph Hayyim penned a letter to Flora and David Solomon Sassoon to which he attached a transcript of his introductory remarks about Solomon David delivered at the memorial service, saying, “Read it, cry with it, be calmed by it just as I was calmed by it, and then keep it. May it be [His] will that the tears wept by the community served and will serve their purpose, may [the departed’s] soul be bound up in the Bond of Life, and may he repose in peace; amen, so may it be [His] will.” Sotheby’s is grateful to David Roth for providing information that aided in the cataloging of this manuscript. Literature Abraham Ben-Jacob, Perakim be-toledot yehudei bavel: korot anaf ehad mi-mishpahat sassoon ha-bagdadit, vol. 1 (Jerusalem: Olam ha-Sefer ha-Torani, 1989), 94-96, 296-302. [Anon.], “Massa bavel,” Maggid mesharim 5,29 (May 3, 1894): 5. Jacob Saul Elyashar, “Kinah,” Ha-melits 34,109 (May 25, 1894): 7. Joseph Hayyim of Baghdad, Sefer ben ish hayil, vol. 4 (Jerusalem: Otsar ha-Mizrah — Mekhon “Ben Ish Hai,” 1979), 297-305. Joseph Hayyim of Baghdad, Ud mutsal me-esh: derashah le-zekher rabbi shelomoh ben david sassoon bi-shenat 5654 … nidpas la-rishonah al pi ketav ha-yad ha-yehidi ba-olam ketav yad sassoon 484, ed. Raphael Kohen (Jerusalem: Raphael Kohen, 2010). Joseph Hayyim of Baghdad, Sefer birkat ha-reah: osef ketavim: derushim, she’elot u-teshuvot, tefillot u-bakkashot, ve-likkutei shemu’ot (New York: Sephardic Heritage Museum, 2018), 70-82. David Solomon Sassoon, Ohel Dawid: Descriptive Catalogue of the Hebrew and Samaritan Manuscripts in the Sassoon Library, London, vol. 1 (Oxford: Oxford University Press; London: Humphrey Milford, 1932), 89 (no. 484). David Solomon Sassoon, Divrei david, in Ben-Yaacob, Perakim be-toledot yehudei bavel, 651-653. Moshe Sh. Shabbat, Yeshivot bagdad: mehkar makkif al hivvui ha-yeshivot be-bagdad ba-me’ot ha-aharonot (5300-5711) hithavvutan ve-hashpa‘atan le-dorot, vol. 3 (Jerusalem: Moshe Sh. Shabbat, 2019), 99.

autograph copy of the sermon given by the ben ish hai at the memorial service for solomon david sassoon, baghdad: 1894

Flora Sassoon (1856-1936), David Solomon Sassoon’s mother, was born in Bombay to Ezekiel Gubbay (1824-1896), a Baghdad native who immigrated to India and worked in China, and Aziza Sassoon (1839-1897), eldest daughter of Sir Albert (Abdullah Meir) Sassoon (1818-1896). Gubbay hired Baghdadi teachers to move to Bombay and tutor his twelve children in Jewish subjects; for her general education, Flora attended Catholic school. Already at an early age she stood out for her intelligence, erudition, business and financial acumen, refined character, fervent religious faith, and generosity. Her knowledge of the Bible, Talmud, and halakhic codes was exceptional, and she carried on learned correspondences with prominent Sephardic and Ashkenazic rabbis of her day. She published two scholarly articles in the New York-based Orthodox periodical The Jewish Forum and was selected to preside over the annual Speech Day of Jews’ College on April 13, 1924.

Flora Sassoon (1856-1936), David Solomon Sassoon’s mother, was born in Bombay to Ezekiel Gubbay (1824-1896), a Baghdad native who immigrated to India and worked in China, and Aziza Sassoon (1839-1897), eldest daughter of Sir Albert (Abdullah Meir) Sassoon (1818-1896). Gubbay hired Baghdadi teachers to move to Bombay and tutor his twelve children in Jewish subjects; for her general education, Flora attended Catholic school. Already at an early age she stood out for her intelligence, erudition, business and financial acumen, refined character, fervent religious faith, and generosity. Her knowledge of the Bible, Talmud, and halakhic codes was exceptional, and she carried on learned correspondences with prominent Sephardic and Ashkenazic rabbis of her day. She published two scholarly articles in the New York-based Orthodox periodical The Jewish Forum and was selected to preside over the annual Speech Day of Jews’ College on April 13, 1924. She also loved singing pizmonim on Sabbaths and festivals using traditional Iraqi Jewish tunes. Before marrying Solomon David Sassoon on March 1, 1876, she copied at least two collections of such pizmonim, one of which comprises the present lot and is dated Monday, 11 Sivan 5635 (June 14, 1875; see pp. 17, 33). (The second, Sassoon 426, is dated 22 Tevet 5636 [January 19, 1876].) These include: (1) Ashir la-E-l asher shavat by Rabbi Moses ben Samuel ha-Levi (d. 1838); (2) Barukh E-l elyon by Rabbi Baruch ben Samuel of Mainz; (3) Barukh ba be-shem ha-Shem by Rabbi Sason Mordechai Shindookh (1747-1830); (4-5) Yashir yisra’el shir no‘am and Shir hadash ashir ve-shem E-l akdish ba-adat ari’el, both often sung by Iraqi Jews on the Sabbath of Parashat be-shallah (Shabbat shirah); (6) Yom yom odeh la-E-l asher bahar banu, often sung by Iraqi Jews on the Sabbath of Parashat yitro and on Shavuot, two occasions when the Ten Commandments are read publicly; (7) Yatsa li-melokh mi-beit surim by Rabbi Israel Najara (1555-1628), often song by Iraqi Jews on the Sabbath of Hanukkah; (8) Melekh go’el u-moshia by Rabbi Moses Hussein (d. 1810), often sung by Iraqi Jews on the Sabbath closest to the start of the month of Nisan (Shabbat ha-hodesh) and on the Seder night; (9) Shabbat zeh shabbat ha-gadol by Rabbi Sason Mordechai Shindookh, often sung by Iraqi Jews on the Sabbath before Passover (Shabbat ha-gadol); and (10) Yedidi ro‘i mekimi by Rabbi Israel Najara. The lot also includes nine loose pages (not part of Sassoon 12) featuring ten further pizmonim written in Flora’s distinctive hand: (1) Shefal ruah, shefal berekh by Rabbi Solomon Ibn Gabirol (1021-1058); (2) Mehallel E-l, shoreru na kol tsava; (3) the aforementioned Yedidi ro‘i mekimi; (4) Yoshev shemei shahak, beneh hatsrotai by Rabbi Israel Najara; (5) Yisra’el mi ka-mokha am; (6) E-lohei oz tehillati, refa’eni ve-erafe, an anonymously authored pizmon whose recitation was endorsed by Rabbi Isaac Luria Ashkenazi (1534-1572); (7) Y-ah ribbon alam ve-alemaya by Rabbi Israel Najara; (8) Yom ha-shabbat ein ka-mohu by a certain Mansur; (9) Tsur mi-shello akhalnu; and (10) Elav mi hikshah va-yishlam by Rabbi Abraham bar Meir. Physical Description 33 pages (8 1/2 x 5 1/4 in.; 217 x 131 mm) on variously colored papers (pp. 3-4, 7-8, 11-12, 15-16, 19-20, 23-24, 27-28, 31-32 blank); original(?) foliation in pencil in Arabic numerals in upper-inner corner of rectos (ff. 1-9); modern pagination in pencil in Arabic numerals in lower margins at center (cited); written in Baghdadi cursive script in black ink; poetically arranged text; strikethroughs and corrections in primary hand. Slight smudging; some pages tearing (often along fold lines); mounted on modern paper; minor worming on p. 9. Modern cloth over board, slightly scuffed; paper ticket with title affixed to top of spine; paper ticket with shelf mark affixed to base of spine; modern paper flyleaves and pastedowns. With: 9 loose pages; minor worming on p. 9. Literature Abraham Ben-Yaacob (ed.), Yalkut minhagim (mi-minhagei shivtei yisra’el) (Jerusalem: Ha-Madpis ha-Memshalti, 1967), available at: https://www.daat.ac.il/daat/toshba/minhagim/bav.htm. Abraham Ben-Yaacob et al. (eds.), Shirah u-piyyut shel yehudei bavel ba-dorot ha-aharonim: osef u-mivhar (Jerusalem: Ben-Zvi Institute, 1970), 88-89, 252-255. Abraham Ben-Yaacob, Perakim be-toledot yehudei bavel: korot anaf ehad mi-mishpahat sassoon ha-bagdadit, vol. 1 (Jerusalem: Olam ha-Sefer ha-Torani, 1989), 125 n. 43. David Solomon Sassoon, Ohel Dawid: Descriptive Catalogue of the Hebrew and Samaritan Manuscripts in the Sassoon Library, London, vol. 1 ([Oxford]: Oxford University Press; London: Humphrey Milford, 1932), 247 (no. 12). https://www.nli.org.il/he/discover/music/jewish-music/piyut

View 1 of Lot 25: Pizmonim (Liturgical Songs), Scribe: Flora Sassoon, [Bombay], 1875

pizmonim (liturgical songs), scribe: flora sassoon, [bombay], 1875

The story of a Jewish mother and her seven sons, who died at the hands of a cruel ruler rather than violate the Torah’s prohibition against idolatry, is first recorded in the seventh chapter of II Maccabees but was generally known to medieval Jews from secondary and tertiary sources like the Talmud, midrashim, and Sefer yosippon. As one of the most powerful and poignant Jewish martyrological tales, it was introduced into the liturgy of various communities for the Sabbath of Hanukkah and/or for the night of the fast of Tish‘ah be-Av. A Judeo-Arabic kinah (elegy) for the latter, entitled Quṣṣat ḥannah wa-sab‘at awlada(ha), was composed by an anonymous author, probably in Baghdad, and circulated widely in various adaptations both in manuscript and in print (editio princeps: Livorno, 1840). With time, the poem reached Arabic-speaking communities in Syria, the Land of Israel, Yemen, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco and was even translated into Kurdish Neo-Aramaic in the twentieth century.

The story of a Jewish mother and her seven sons, who died at the hands of a cruel ruler rather than violate the Torah’s prohibition against idolatry, is first recorded in the seventh chapter of II Maccabees but was generally known to medieval Jews from secondary and tertiary sources like the Talmud, midrashim, and Sefer yosippon. As one of the most powerful and poignant Jewish martyrological tales, it was introduced into the liturgy of various communities for the Sabbath of Hanukkah and/or for the night of the fast of Tish‘ah be-Av. A Judeo-Arabic kinah (elegy) for the latter, entitled Quṣṣat ḥannah wa-sab‘at awlada(ha), was composed by an anonymous author, probably in Baghdad, and circulated widely in various adaptations both in manuscript and in print (editio princeps: Livorno, 1840). With time, the poem reached Arabic-speaking communities in Syria, the Land of Israel, Yemen, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco and was even translated into Kurdish Neo-Aramaic in the twentieth century. The present lot is a rare, richly decorated, pocket-sized copy of Quṣṣat ḥannah wa-sab‘at awlada(ha), apparently produced in Baghdad in the nineteenth century. Its bright color scheme includes blue, green, red, yellow, and purple pigments, and floral motifs are interspersed throughout. The first two pages are particularly ornate, with a stylized menorah inscribed with the text of psalm 67 appearing on p. 2. The manuscript was acquired by David Solomon Sassoon on November 24, 1926, and thereafter (re)bound. Physical Description 16 pages (5 x 3 1/2 in.; 126 x 96 mm) on lined paper; modern pagination in pencil in Arabic numerals in lower margins at center; written in Baghdadi square (title-page text, headers, and incipits) and cursive (text body) scripts in colored and black inks, respectively; single-column text of ten lines per page; justification of lines via insertion of space fillers; headers. Scattered staining; some smudging and transfer of colored and black inks; small imperfection in upper edge of pp. 13-14. Modern half-leather over thin boards, slightly worn and warped; paper ticket with title affixed to top of spine; paper ticket with shelf mark affixed to base of spine; modern paper flyleaf on upper board and modern paper pastedowns. Literature Yitzhak Avishur, “Qiṣṣatit hannah ba-aramit turgemah me-aravit-yehudit bagdadit,” Pe‘amim 9 (1981): 125-129. Gerson Cohen, “Ma‘aseh hannah ve-shiv‘at baneha ba-sifrut ha-ivrit,” in Sefer ha-yovel li-kevod mordekhai menahem kaplan li-melot lo shiv‘im shanah (New York: Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1953), 109-122, at p. 122 (no. 7) (Hebrew section). Ratzon Halevi, “Sippur hannah ve-shiv‘at baneha—quṣṣat ḥannah wa-sab‘at awladaha,” Tehudah 15 (1995): 64-72. Hartwig Hirschfeld, “Jewish Arabic Liturgies,” The Jewish Quarterly Review 6,1 (October 1893): 119-135. Vered Madar, “Ma Khabar and Qussat Ḥannah: A Gendered Reading of Two Stories in the Culture of Yemenite Jewish Women,” Nashim 11 (Spring 5766/2006): 84-104. Vered Madar, “Mah bein sippur yetsi’at mitsrayim le-sippur hannah ve-shiv‘at baneha be-tarbut ha-nashim ha-yehudiyyot be-teiman,” in Ayelet Ettinger and Danny Bar-Maoz (eds.), Mi-tuv yosef: sefer ha-yovel li-kevod yosef tobi, vol. 2 (Haifa: University of Haifa, 2011), 241-270. Uri Melammed (ed. and trans.), Quṣṣat ḥannah we-sab‘at awladaha: ma‘aseh hannah ve-shiv‘at baneha (Beit Dagan, Israel: Beit ha-Keneset Po‘alei Tsedek, 2011). David Solomon Sassoon, Ohel Dawid: Descriptive Catalogue of the Hebrew and Samaritan Manuscripts in the Sassoon Library, London, vol. 2 ([Oxford]: Oxford University Press; London: Humphrey Milford, 1932), 1034 (no. 907). Apparently not recorded in Meir Benayahu, Sefarim she-nithabberu be-bavel u-sefarim she-ne‘etku bah (Jerusalem: Yad Harav Nissim; Merkaz Moreshet Yahadut Bavel, 1993).

View 1 of Lot 23: The Story of Hannah and the Seven Children in Judeo-Arabic, Scribe: Menasseh ben Jacob ben Elijah Sofer, [Baghdad, 19th century]

the story of hannah and the seven children in judeo-arabic, scribe: menasseh ben jacob ben elijah sofer, [baghdad, 19th century]

A miscellany comprising three distinct works, two of them unpublished.

A miscellany comprising three distinct works, two of them unpublished. The first (ff. 1-71) is an apparently unique copy of the Sefer ha-mitsvot (Book of the Commandments) of Rabbi Isaac ben Samuel. The author, about whom little is known, gives his name in an acrostic composed of verses taken from psalm 119 at the beginning of the book. (It may also be hinted at in the word Ahivshena in the title, assuming this word stands for ani hatum yitshak ben shemu’el noho eden.) In his introduction (ff. 1r-3r), he recounts some of the history of the Oral Law and the rules for deciding it before explaining the need in each generation for the composition of new tracts meant to increase the Law’s accessibility (including its translation into foreign languages). In particular, he mentions the works of his predecessors, Rabbis Isaac Ibn Ghiyyat, Solomon ben Isaac, Moses Maimonides, Moses of Coucy, Judah ha-Kohen al-Mudari, Moses Nahmanides, Isaac of Corbeil, Solomon Ibn Adret, and Jacob ben Asher. Mention of this last authority, who died in 1340, suggests that the compilation of the Sefer ha-mitsvot took place in the mid-fourteenth century, or perhaps somewhat later. In addition, the inclusion of an extended Judeo-Arabic quotation (f. 31r-v) probably points to Spain or the Islamic lands as the author’s location. The work aims to expound on the 613 commandments in the order of their appearance in the Pentateuch according to the weekly parashiyyot (Torah portions), drawing upon and epitomizing the interpretations of earlier authorities. Its first section (ff. 3v-4v) is devoted to the 248 positive commandments, while its second part (ff. 5r-71v) is focused on the 365 negative commandments. Rabbi Isaac ben Samuel’s treatment of a given precept could be extensive, as indeed was the case for negative commandment 21, the requirement to not violate the Sabbath, which, in fact, closes out the portion of the book preserved in this miscellany (ff. 21v-71v). The second tract (ff. 72r-167v) is somewhat similar in content and language to Rabbi Isaac ben Samuel’s aforementioned discussion of the laws of the Sabbath, and it, too, may have been composed by him. It goes through the rules governing the Sabbath eve (ff. 72r-79v), the lighting of Sabbath (ff. 79v-82r) and Hanukkah (ff. 82r-83v) candles, the Kiddush blessing recited on the Sabbath (ff. 83v-88r), the types of labors forbidden on the Sabbath (ff. 88r-139v), and the prohibitions against transferring property from one domain to another and leaving the city limits on the Sabbath (ff. 140r-167v). The treatise contains a wealth of information especially from geonic sources and is, like its predecessor, apparently unique to this manuscript. The third work represented here (ff. 168r-234v) is a beautifully decorated copy of Rabbi Menahem Recanati’s (late 13th-early 14th-century) kabbalistic commentary on the books of Genesis and Exodus (through the middle of Parashat tetsavveh), with various marginalia apparently added by the scribe, whose name may have been Isaac (see f. 215r). The Italian author has recourse to various traditional Sephardic and Ashkenazic mystical sources in his interpretation of the biblical text and includes descriptions of some of his own visions and celestial revelations. Predating the editio princeps of the full Torah commentary (Venice, 1523) probably by a century or so, the present manuscript constitutes an important witness to this influential esoteric tract. Sotheby’s is grateful to Simcha Emanuel, Benjamin Richler, and Yaakov Taubes for providing information that aided in the cataloging of this manuscript. Provenance Sason ben Isaac ha-Levi (ff. 62v, 218v; apparently also the owner of MS Cincinnati, HUC 308)Widow of Sason ben Isaac ha-Levi (f. 214r)Hayyim Levi Mizrahi (ff. 1r, 83v, 168r, 214r) Physical Description 234 folios (10 1/2 x 7 in.; 267 x 177 mm) (beginning collation indeterminate, but starting with f. 5: i7 [i1 lacking], ii-v8, vi10, vii9 [?], viii8, 1, [gap], ix8, x12, xi8, xii12, xiii8, xiv12, xv-xvi8, [gap], xvii8, xviii12, [gap], xix9 [xix1-2,12 lacking], xx12, xxi-xxiii10, xxiv10 [lacking xxiv1-2], xxv6 [lacking xxv1,8]) on apparently unmarked paper; modern foliation in pencil in Arabic numerals in upper-outer corners of rectos; written in Eastern square (titles and incipits) and semi-cursive (text body) scripts in black ink; single-column text of 32 (ff. 1-71) or 33 (ff. 72-234) lines per page; ruled in blind; horizontal catchwords relatively consistently on ff. 72-234; justification via dilation and contraction of final letters, abbreviation, and diagonal inscription of final words; Tetragrammaton generally formed as three yodin in a triangle followed by a squiggle, or as a yod-vav-yod sequence; later marginal notation of parashiyyot on f. 6r-v only; Judeo-Arabic text (with diacritics) quoted on f. 31r-v; corrections, marginalia, and insertions in primary and later hands. Intricately executed pen-drawn opening panels and/or frames on ff. 1r, 3v-4r, 5r-6r, 168r, 189v, 192r, 197v, 202r, 203r, 204r, 207v, 209v, 211v-212r, 217r, 218r, 221r, 225v, 228r, 230r, 234r, with green and red inks used on ff. 5r-6r; similar-style full-page book division on f. 214r; diagrams on ff. 15r-17r, 18r-19r, 26r, 31v, 36r-37v, 44r, 46r-v, 48r, 49v-51v, 54r-55v, 56v-58r, 59v-65v, 70r, 75r-v, 95r, 111r, 117v, 122v-123r, 125v-126v, 128r, 129v, 131v-132r, 149r, 151v, 152v, 153v-157r, 159v-160r, 161v-162r, 164v-165r, 166r-167v, 232r. Probably lacking one folio between ff. 1-2, 3-4, 176-177, 228-229, two folios between ff. 218-219, and an unknown number between ff. 4-5, 71-72, 139-140, 147-148, and 167-168 and after f. 234; staining and dampstaining intermittently throughout, occasionally obscuring or abrading some text (see esp. ff. 230-232); thumbing; ff. 1-12 frayed and torn in edges, without loss of text; tape in gutters of ff. 51-52, 54, 61-63, 69-71, 80, 91, 100, 111, 119-121, 130-131, 146-147, 156, 176, 189, 199-200, 208, 212, 227, 230; tear near gutter of f. 85; small holes in middle of ff. 90, 179, 230, slightly affecting text; paper repairs in upper sections of ff. 140-141, 148-150, on each of which a few lines of text are damaged; paper repairs in upper-outer corners of ff. 151-155 and in outer edge of f. 156, without loss of text. Unbound; stitching exposed and fraying; many folios partially or completely loose. Literature Simcha Emanuel (ed.), Teshuvot ha-ge’onim ha-hadashot, revised ed. (Jerusalem; Wickliffe, OH: Ofeq Institute, 2018), 251 n. 32, 277. https://www.nli.org.il/he/discover/manuscripts/hebrew-manuscripts/itempage?vid=MANUSCRIPTS&scope=PNX_MANUSCRIPTS&docId=PNX_MANUSCRIPTS990001890740205171&SearchTxt=990001890740205171 https://www.nli.org.il/he/discover/manuscripts/hebrew-manuscripts/itempage?vid=MANUSCRIPTS&scope=PNX_MANUSCRIPTS&docId=PNX_MANUSCRIPTS990001928870205171&SearchTxt=990001928870205171

View 1 of Lot 2: A Rare Collection of Halakhic and Kabbalistic Treatises, [Middle East?, ca. late 14th-mid-15th century]

a rare collection of halakhic and kabbalistic treatises, [middle east?, ca. late 14th-mid-15th century]

A rare survival of the Yemenite recension of this foundational text.

A rare survival of the Yemenite recension of this foundational text. Rabbi Solomon ben Isaac, universally known by the acronym Rashi (1040-1105), was a native of Northern France who studied in Germany before returning to his home country. There he wrote history’s most popular Torah commentary, as well as transformative glosses on most of the rest of the Hebrew Bible and much of the Babylonian Talmud. The very earliest dated Hebrew book printed with movable type to have come down to us is an edition of Rashi’s commentary on the Pentateuch (Reggio di Calabria, 1475), a title which was issued another eight times in the incunable period alone. To this day the work continues to serve as one of the first rabbinic texts to which schoolchildren are introduced throughout the Jewish world, starting from a tender age. Despite the distance from Northern Europe, Rashi’s commentary made its way to Yemen already by the fifteenth century, apparently before the appearance of the first editions. There it attracted a wide following and would, with time, become a regular part of Sabbath afternoon study sessions in the synagogue. While the vast majority of surviving Yemenite exemplars largely reproduce the printed editions of the text, a handful of manuscripts, like the first part (pp. 1-110) of the present lot, preserve an older version of the commentary. These are of great value to scholars interested in reconstructing as much of the original work as possible, before copyists and printers changed its form and content to suit their editorial needs and interests. Like many other of his Yemenite manuscripts, David Solomon Sassoon purchased this volume from Elias Abraham Saadia Solomon Halfon of Aden (between mid-March 1928 and mid-July 1929), who went by the name Elias Abraham Morris when he later immigrated to New York City. Physical Description 322 of about 334 pages (8 1/4 x 5 3/4 in.; 209 x 145 mm) (collation starting with p. 111: i-xiii8, xiv2 [xiv3-4 lacking]) on Yemenite (unmarked) paper; premodern foliation in pen in Hebrew characters in upper-outer corners of rectos (ff. 5-7, 7-12 only); modern pagination in pencil in Arabic numerals in lower margins at center; midpoints of quires (of pp. 111-322) generally marked in the upper-right and/or lower-left corners of the middle opening; written in two different Yemenite hands, the first (pp. 1-110) of the 15th century and the second (pp. 111-322) of the 17th century, in black ink; single- (pp. 1-52, 111-322) and double-column (pp. 53-110) text of a variable number of lines per page; ruled with a mastara (ruling board); justification of lines via dilation or contraction of final letters, insertion of space fillers, use of anticipatory letters, and abbreviation; headers; horizontal catchwords added inconsistently on versos of pp. 1-110 and consistently on rectos and versos of pp. 111-322; periodic Tiberian and/or Babylonian vocalization of text; Tetragrammaton abbreviated to two or three yodin in a row with a dot above and below the midpoint (pp. 1-110) or to the letter he followed by a short stroke (pp. 111-322); episodic later marginal references; corrections, strikethroughs, and/or marginalia in primary and secondary hands. Decorated initial wood panel on p. 78; simple rosettes at the close of some parashiyyot (pp. 65, 103, 109); enlarged incipits (pp. 111-322). Probably lacking about six folios: three at the beginning, one in between pp. 46-47, and two at the end; scattered staining and dampstaining; corners rounded and sometimes dog-eared; episodic creasing; pages cropped, at times affecting headers or marginalia; paper sometimes slightly damaged by ink, resulting in small cracks or holes; periodic short tears in edges (e.g., pp. 45-46, 55-62, 87-90); damage in edges of pp. 1-4, 213-214, 321-322, affecting several words; worming in center of pp. 1-6, 73-88, affecting several words; pp. 27-28 loose; damage in upper portion of pp. 175-176 and in outer portion of pp. 221-222, affecting several words; small puncture in text of pp. 217-218. Modern green buckram; shelf mark lettered in gilt at base of spine; modern paper flyleaves and pastedowns. Literature Pinhas Korah, “Ha-limmud be-peirushei rashi u-ma‘alato,” available at: https://alfeyehuda.com/%D7%9E%D7%90%D7%9E%D7%A8-%D7%94%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%9E%D7%95%D7%93-%D7%91%D7%A4%D7%99%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%A9%D7%99-%D7%A8%D7%A9%D7%99-%D7%95%D7%9E%D7%A2%D7%9C%D7%AA%D7%95/. Eric Lawee, Rashi’s Commentary on the Torah: Canonization and Resistance in the Reception of a Jewish Classic Book (New York: Oxford University Press, 2019). Manfred R. Lehmann (ed.), Peirush rashi al ha-torah le-rabbi shelomoh yitshaki (New York: Manfred and Anne Lehmann Foundation, 1981). Sassoon 1188 (not catalogued in Ohel Dawid)

View 1 of Lot 11: Commentary on the Pentateuch, Rabbi Solomon ben Isaac (Rashi), [Yemen, 15th-17th century]

commentary on the pentateuch, rabbi solomon ben isaac (rashi), [yemen, 15th-17th century]

Composite register of printed and manuscript regulations related to the taxation of Jews and kosher food in Central Europe.

Composite register of printed and manuscript regulations related to the taxation of Jews and kosher food in Central Europe. Special taxes on Jews were a defining feature of fiscal policy in the Habsburg lands in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. While Emperor Joseph II, through his edicts of toleration, formally abolished several older imposts that had explicitly targeted Jews, Jewish households remained subject to a complex regime of toleration payments and indirect taxes. The Habsburg state made systematic use of taxes on kosher meat, wine, and fish as part of its strategy for raising revenue from Jewish communities. The present item, a working handbook for tax collectors charged with administering Jewish household taxes and levies on kosher provisions in and around Brünn, reflects precisely this context. The volume is a substantial composite of printed and manuscript material intended for Habsburg officials. Together, its components form a coherent administrative handbook for the regulation and collection of Jewish taxes at the local level, particularly levies on kosher meat, fish, and wine, which had become an important instrument of Jewish fiscal policy in Bohemia, Moravia, and other Habsburg provinces by the turn of the nineteenth century. The register is divided into two main parts, with additional loose documents attached. The first is a printed section in red and black containing three distinct sets of instructions, all promulgated in Brünn, each followed by detailed appendices: an Instruction of 31 October 1798; an Instruction of 9 August 1805; and a further Instruction of 31 October 1798. These increasingly detailed ordinances provide guidance for the collection of taxes on Jewish families and on the consumption, trade, and possible export of kosher meat, fish, kosher wine, and related products. They include model passes and forms naming dozens of individuals—Joshua Nathan, Moses Sitgras, Moses Binder, Salomon Bleicher, Simon and Markus Ehrlich, Salomon Deutsch, Salomon Hirsch, Moses Ehrenreich, Levi Mayer, Aaron Kraus, Samson Auspi(t)zer, among others—along with their places of residence, towns of origin, or, for travelers, destinations. The most frequently mentioned towns are Brünn, Lamboritz, Nikolsburg, Auspitz, Vienna, Holitsch in Hungary, and Jägensdorf in Silesia; the countries named include Austria, Bohemia, Moravia, Hungary, and Poland. In terms of content, the instructions go so far as to specify which parts of the animal, being non‑kosher or “tröfe,” are not subject to tax; the condition required of the slaughtering knife; the involvement of the local rabbi; and the risks of de‑kashering the meat during handling. The purchase of fish for the Sabbath meal is specifically mentioned (“der Fisch Einkauf zur Shabes Mahlzeit”), and particularly detailed sections concern kosher wine and its trade. The second part of the volume consists of later handwritten copies, in German and by several hands, of more than seventy supplementary instructions dated between August 1830 and June 1833. These short orders—typically one or two pages—likewise concern the collection of taxes on Jews and their food and contain numerous references back to the printed instructions in the first part. Enclosed with the volume are six additional unbound printed documents on Jewish taxation, one undated and the others issued between October 1830 and March 1833 (one a six‑page folio), as well as three loose documents: one signed by a bishop and two dealing with coins under the reign of Maria Theresa. A rare composite working handbook combining printed instructions, manuscript updates, and related loose documents on Jewish food taxation. Physical Description Composite register, folio (various sizes; approximately 14 1/8 x 8 1/2 in.; 360 x 215 mm), 192 leaves, often folded, plus additional loose material. Part I (ff. 2–146; pp. 1–146): printed on paper in red and black, in German, comprising three sets of instructions and their appendices as follows: Instruction of 31 October 1798, ff. 2–6, with appendices, ff. 7–11; Instruction of 9 August 1805, ff. 12–18, with appendices, ff. 19–41; Instruction of 31 October 1798, ff. 42–78, with appendices, ff. 79–146. Part II (ff. 147–192): manuscript in ink, in German, by several hands, later pagination 1–91, with two unpaginated flyleaves; together with six unbound printed documents (one undated and five dated between October 1830 and March 1833, including one six‑page folio) and three loose documents (one episcopal document and two concerning coinage from the reign of Maria Theresa); intermittent toning, soiling, and dampstaining, with a few small spots. Contemporary parchment, gilt tooled spine with parchment label; the ink lettering on the label is faded, bowing and soiling to boards. Literature Michael Laurence Miller, Rabbis and Revolution: The Jews of Moravia in the Age of Emancipation (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2010).

View 1 of Lot 90: Central European Regulations on the Taxation of Jews and Kosher Food, Composite Register of Printed and Manuscript Instructions for Tax Collectors

central european regulations on the taxation of jews and kosher food, composite register of printed and manuscript instructions for tax collectors

Fols. 1r-32v: Prayers and piyyutim for the wedding.

Fols. 1r-32v: Prayers and piyyutim for the wedding. Fols. 33r-37v: Piyyutim for circumcision. Fols. 38r-183r: Prayers and piyyutim for Shabbat and holidays. Fols. 183v-184v: Poems by Eliezer di Mordo. Eliezer Mordo was a prominent leader, rabbi and physician of the Corfu Jewish community. In fact, there were two people with this name and both were rabbis and doctors. The portrait of the elder one is in the Jewish National and University Library in Jerusalem. Members of the Mordo family aided the Venetian forces in defending Corfu against the Ottoman invaders in 1716. See also Montefiore ms. 220. According to the colophon on fol. 29v, this fine Siddur was written by Meir ben Isaac Rothenburg in 1706. It is unusual to find that a scribe with a German surname wrote this typical Corfu manuscript. Several interesting illustrations appear in this manuscript. On fol. 9v is an illustration of a cup next to the Grace After Meals and on fol. 13v are two more cups; one stands alongside the blessing on wine, the other is overturned next to the bracha achrona (the blessing said following consumption). On fol. 123v is a sketch of a shekel, next to the service for the Sabbath of Parshat Shekalim, and on fol. 182r is a diagram of kabbalistic spheres alongside a composition based on the ten spheres. On the back flyleaf is a collation of the manuscript, signed M. G. [Moses Gaster] and on the margins are penciled identification of poets in Halberstam’s hand. Sotheby’s is grateful to Menahem Schmelzer z”l and Benjamin Richler for cataloguing this manuscript. Provenance Tedesco (Ashkenazi) family (various entries on the inside front and back cover and front flyleaf relating to the family from the years 1804-1841) — Mordecai Vitta (=Hayyim) ben Elijah di Mordo Barba Negra — Levi Rosenthal, 1720 (owner's inscription, fol. 185v) — Solomon Halberstam (shelf no. 354) Physical Description [1] 185 = 186 leaves on paper, 7 x 4 ¾ inches; 178 x 121 mm, written in square and cursive script in black ink, poem on fol. 53v in a different hand, decorated title-page, sketches of cups (fols. 9v, 13v), figure of a shekel coin (fol. 123v), diagram of kabbalistic spheres (fol. 182r), catchwords; title-page and fols. 4, 49, and 52 detached, some light scattered foxing and browning, a few wine stains in the first quire. Contemporary Italian calf, spine gilt; worn, short tears to boards, spine ends chewed with some losses, endpapers heavily annotated. Literature Hirschfeld (ms. no. 236); L. J. Weinberger, Rabbanite and Karaite Liturgy in South-Eastern Europe, (1991), and Jewish Hymnography, (1998), pp., 330-331; Cecil Roth, (Venice, 1930), p. 323

View 1 of Lot 74: Siddur According to the Rite of Corfu with Poems for Weddings, Circumcisions, and Other Occasions, Scribe: Meir ben Isaac Rothenburg, [Corfu], 1706

siddur according to the rite of corfu with poems for weddings, circumcisions, and other occasions, scribe: meir ben isaac rothenburg, [corfu], 1706

Two Yemenite Tallitot, Southern and Eastern Yemen, early 20th century

Two Yemenite Tallitot, Southern and Eastern Yemen, early 20th century In Southern Yemen, Jewish men wore boldly striped tallitot (prayer shawls) to fulfill the biblical commandment of attaching tsitsit (fringes) to the four corners of one’s garment (Num. 15:38-39). The Jewish men of Sana and those on the Central Plateau, however, wore a black woolen prayer shawl on weekdays but on the Sabbath and holidays donned a more precious version made of refined black wool. Literature Esther Juhasz et al. (eds.), The Jewish Wardrobe: From the Collection of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem (Milan: 5 Continents Editions; Jerusalem: The Israel Museum, 2012), 55-57, 319. Ester Muchawsky-Schnapper, The Yemenites: Two Thousand Years of Jewish Culture (Jerusalem: The Israel Museum, 2000), 78-79.

View 1 of Lot 256: Two Yemenite Tallitot, Southern and Eastern Yemen, early 20th century

two yemenite tallitot, southern and eastern yemen, early 20th century

Fine group of 8 American & English literary annuals, 1828 -1862, in publisher’s decorated bindings, as below:

Fine group of 8 American & English literary annuals, 1828 -1862, in publisher’s decorated bindings, as below: The Token. Christmas and New Year’s Present. Boston: S.G. Goodrich, 1828. 12mo. Engraved frontispiece and pictorial title, letter-press title, 9 engraved plates including a view of Daniel Boone on the banks of Great Osage Lake, Kentucky, after Thomas Cole; one plate cited in the list “External Embellishments” is lacking, some foxing on plates and scattered in the text, a few leaves creased, small piece of decorated paper pasted to title. Contemporary red calf, gilt roll-tooled floral border, spine gilt, dentelles, a.e.g., gold-stamped supralibros of “Harriet Simons” on upper cover. First edition of Samuel Goodrich’s annual. Faxon, p. 70. — The Token and Atlantic Souvenir. Boston: Charles Bowen, 1837. 8vo. Engraved presentation leaf, frontispiece and title, letter-press title, 9 engraved plates; some scattered foxing, more severely on some plates. Publisher’s black embossed morocco, gilt-lettered spine, a.e.g.; edges and corners rubbed, foot of spine chipped. Contains the first appearances of eight stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne including “The Great Carbuncle,” “David Swan,” and “The Man of Adamant.” Faxon, p. 71; Thompson, p. 158. — Friendship’s Offering: A Literary Album, and Christmas and New Year’s Present, for MDCCCXXXII. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1832. 12mo. Engraved frontispiece and title, letter-press title, 10 engraved plates; some foxing mostly confined to plates. Publisher’s red embossed cloth, gold-stamped lyre as central medallion, spine gilt, a.e.g.; edges and joints rubbed. Engraved armorial bookplate of T.L. Clarkson. Includes a sonnet by Alfred Tennyson. Faxon, p. 94; Grolier/Elliott 33. — The Christian Keepsake and Missionary Annual. Edited by the Rev. John A. Clark. 1840. Philadelphia: William Marshall & Co., [1839]. 8vo. Frontispiece portrait, engraved title, letter-press title, 7 engraved plates; waterstained leaving a tide mark and cockling. Publisher’s red embossed morocco, gold-tamped angel on upper cover, spine gilt, a.e.g.; joints and corners rubbed. Includes “The Sabbath” by Harriet B. Stowe, and “The Northern Lights,” by John Greenleaf Whittier. Faxon, p. 12. — The Snow Flake: A Christmas, New Year, and Birthday Gift. New York: Leavitt & Allen, [not before 1852]. 8vo. Frontispiece, presentation leaf, 4 plates; letter-press title lightly browned. Publisher’s red embossed morocco, gold-stamped central panel with floral medallion and title, gold-stamped title on spine, a.e.g.; joints and corners rubbed. Includes “Ode to Jamestown,” by James Kirke Paulding. Faxon, p. 67; BAL VII, p. 19. — Christmas Roses, and New Year’s Gift, for 1849. Boston: Phillips & Sampson, 1849. 8vo. Engraved frontispiece, chromolithographic title, letter-press title, 4 plates; some light browning and offsetting. Publisher’s black striped cloth, gold-stamped floral panel and title on upper cover, spine gilt, a.e.g.; a few small tears in backstrip. Faxon, p. 14. — The Evergreen. A Christmas, New Year, and Birthday Gift. New York: Leavitt & Allen, [c. 1858]. 8vo. Half-title, frontispiece, presentation leaf (inscribed 1862), letter-press title, 4 plates; tide-mark in lower margin, some foxing. Publisher’s black embossed morocco, gold-stamped floral panel on upper cover with title, gold-stamped title on spine, a.e.g.; edges and joints rubbed, foot of spine chipped. With works by Whittier and Lowell. Faxon, p. 18.

gift annual

N08814

38 leaves (3 1/8 x 2 1/8 in.; 80 x 55 mm). COLLATION: 14, 20of4 33of4, 4-84, 95, 106 = 38 leaves (32 parchment leaves + 6 paper leaves; paper leaves comprise final quire). Folios 1-32: written in brown ink on parchment in Hebrew Ashkenazic square and Yiddish Ashkenazic semi-cursive scripts; ruled in hardpoint, 11 lines per page. Ten illustrations: one full-page illustrated title, f. 1r: Moses and Aaron, each atop a pedestal flanking title text, with floral decorative elements above and below; and nine half-page text illustrations: ff. 1v-2r blank. Leaving two blank pages is the hallmark of a particularly opulent manuscript and may likewise indicate the degree of wealth of the manuscript's original patron; f.2v: three men and a women sit at a meal; f. 6r: Three women playing cards (!); f. 10v: husband and wife reciting blessing on wine; f. 12v: an elegantly attired woman picks fruit from a tree in a formal garden; 14v: two women preparing dough, one kneads as the other pours water; 15v: a woman entering a tub as a maidservant adds water; 16v: a woman recites the blessing over the candles while holding a prayerbook; 18 v: a man holds a wine cup in his left hand and recites the havdalah prayer, marking the end of the Sabbath; a young child holds a long taper. A later hand has added, in black ink, a table between the man and child and a spicebox in the man's right hand; 23r: A woman sits on the edge of her bed reciting prayers from a prayerbook. In addition, six elaborately decorated initial word panels: ff. 3r, 5r, 24v, 27v, 30r, 32r. Five leaves (2nd quire and 1st leaf of 3rd quire) wanting. Soiled and stained, some ink flaking, especially on title page. Title page with some text erased. Folio 4 with marginal creases. Folios 32-38, written in brown ink on paper in Yiddish Ashkenazic semi-cursive script and Hebrew Ashkenazic square script, 13-16 lines to a page, in different hand, is a contemporary addition to the manuscript and includes supplemental prayers to be recited at candle lighting by women as well as the text of Samuel 1:1-2:10, in which the prayers of a barren woman are answered. Contemporary Viennese vellum covers replaced over thin wooden boards, warped and worn. Rebacked with losses to corners and spine. Original clasp and catch as well as gilt edges, now perished; original green decorated pastedown endpaper with white acanthus leaf decoration, present at rear but heavily varnished and partially removed at front.

seder birkat hamazon... birkat ha-nehenin... ve-shalosh mitzvot... (order of grace after meals... occasional blessings... and three commandments for women... ), scribe: [meshullam zimmel ben moses of polna], central europe, 1721

A Treasured Legacy (Steinhardt)

crocheted cotton (shown photographed on a black ground).

crocheted cotton (shown photographed on a black ground).height 22 1/2 in.; width 24 in.57.1 cm; 61 cmEmbellished with Hebrew inscriptions in honor of the Sabbath and the opening words of the Kiddush prayer. Further decorated with a wine decanter and goblet and two candelabras for the Sabbath candles as well as floral motifs. A similar example in the collection of the Joods Historisch Museum, Amsterdam, (JHM 1136).RELATED LITERATURE:Daniel M. Swetschinski, Orphan Objects: Facets of the Textiles Collection of the Joods Historisch Museum, Amsterdam, 1997, p.109

a challah cover, 19th century

The Jay T. Snider Collection of Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin Autograph letter signed (“BFranklin”) to Giambatista Beccaria (“Dear Sir”), one page (225 x 188 mm) on a bifolium of laid paper (watermarked C & I Honig), “Passy, near Paris,” 19 February 1781, thanking him for copies of his works and regretting that diplomatic affairs prevent him from indulging his interest in science. Black morocco folding-case gilt, chemise. “Giambatista Beccaria (1716–1781), of the teaching order of Piarists, professor of experimental physics at Turin since 1748, learned about [Franklin’s] discoveries in June 1752, and by July 2 had drawn electricity from the atmosphere by means of a conductor on his house. His experimentation proceeded so rapidly and successfully that the next year he published Dell’elettricismo artificiale e naturale, which contained (pp. 144–8) a letter to Nollet rebutting his attack on [Franklin’s] work. Priestley (History of Electricity, London, 1767, p. 339) praised his work in the highest terms: ‘All that was done by the French and English electricians, with respect to lightning and electricity, fell far short of what was done by Signior Beccaria at Turin’" (Papers 5:394–396, note 9). The French physicist Jean-Antoine Nollet had developed a theory of simultaneous effluence and affluence of electrical particles that conflicted with the hypothesis Franklin published in Experiments and Observations. Nollet attacked Franklin’s theory in Lettres sur l’électricité (Paris, 1753). While Franklin was distressed, he declined to respond, and so was particularly gratified that Beccaria took up his banner. In this final epistolary entry of what Antonio Pace termed “a scientific friendship,” Franklin thanks the Italian physicist for the recent publications he had delivered through the offices of a former pupil, Count Ottone Ponte di Scarnafigi, ambassador of the Kingdom of Sardinia to France. Beccaria died in May 1781, just three months after he would have received this letter. “I received lately through the hands of your Ambassador, the several ingenious Pieces of your Writing, which you did me the honour to send me. At present I am so engag’d in publick Affairs, that I cannot give the Attention I wish to philosophical Subjects, which used to afford so much Pleasure. It grieves me to hear of the long Continuance of your Illness. Science suffers with you. I beg leave to recommend the Bearer, M. Steinsky, to your Civilities. He is Professor of Physics at Prague. With good & unalterable Esteem, I have the honour to be, Reverend & dear Sir, Your most obedient & most humble Servant.” Franklin’s response was carried by François Steinsky, who was then on a sabbatical sponsored by Maria Theresa, Archduchess of Austria, travelling through Switzerland, Holland, England, France, and Italy. However, until recently the original recipient’s letter was thought not to have survived, and Franklin’s text was known only by the press copy in the Library of Congress. Implicit in Franklin’s letter is his gratitude for Beccaria’s long championing of his own work on electricity. The preface to Beccaria’s Dell'elettricismo artificiale e naturale (1753) “candidly admits … his profound debt to that ‘most celebrated writer on electricity, Benjamin Franklin.’ His treatise is, however, no servile imitation. Applying a rigorous experimental and inductive technique within a framework suggested by mathematical exposition, Beccaria was able to develop Franklin's brilliant but disorganized insights to a point which amazed his contemporaries and to lay the foundations for later quantitative studies. Priestley's appraisal of the significance of Beccaria's work has already been noted. [Franklin] was among the very first to acknowledge the Artificial and Natural Electricity as by all odds the most profound and organic study that had appeared on the subject of electricity, and who continued to follow the Turinese professor's work with keen interest until the latter's death in 1781” (Pace, pp. 51–52). Franklin himself noted to Peter Collinson in 1754, “I am much pleased with Mr. Beccarias Book on Electricity for his curious experiments, Clear Expression, and Excellent Methods. I beg the favour of you to present Him my sincere Thanks for the Countenance he has afforded my Opinions and the handsome defence he has made of some of them, against the Attacks of Mr. Nollet. Our Different experiments and Observations on Lightening have led us both to the same strange opinion vizt: that Thunder Strokes are frequently from the Earth to the Clouds —which Opinion I imagine will be found true by such as examine it with the requisite attention” (Papers 5:394–396). Franklin and Beccaria exchanged fourteen letters, according to The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, but this is one of only about four—and the only one by Franklin—to survive in its original holograph. REFERENCES Papers of Benjamin Franklin, ed. Oberg, 34:380–381 (not locating the original; text taken from the press copy in the Library of Congress); Antonio Pace, “Chapter III. A Scientific Friendship: Giambatista Beccaria,” pp. 49–70, in Benjamin Franklin and Italy (American Philosophical Society, 1958) PROVENANCE A private collection in Milan

View 1 of Lot 123: Benjamin Franklin | "Science suffers with you"

benjamin franklin | "science suffers with you"

Ta’alumot Hokhmah, compiled by Shabbetai ben Daniel Raphael, is a collection of practical kabbalah and folk remedies. This manuscript may have been copied from the printed edition (Venice, ca. 1667), possibly in Kurdistan or the immediate area. The end of the text is missing.

Ta’alumot Hokhmah, compiled by Shabbetai ben Daniel Raphael, is a collection of practical kabbalah and folk remedies. This manuscript may have been copied from the printed edition (Venice, ca. 1667), possibly in Kurdistan or the immediate area. The end of the text is missing. Sotheby’s is grateful to Menahem Schmelzer z”l and Benjamin Richler for cataloguing this manuscript. Physical Description 17 leaves on paper, 8 ½ x 6 ¼ inches; 212 x 162 mm, ruled in hardpoint, written in Oriental script in black ink, catchwords, modern foliation in pencil; inner margins reinforced, stains in the outer margins. Library buckram. Literature Hirschfeld (ms. no. 344); on the author’s role in the Sabbatean movement, see G. Scholem, Sabbatai Sevi (Princeton, 1973), pp. 781-792

View 1 of Lot 114: Ta'alumot Hokhmah, Shabbetai ben Daniel Raphael, [Kurdistan?, 18th century]

ta'alumot hokhmah, shabbetai ben daniel raphael, [kurdistan?, 18th century]

Books & Manuscripts

Hortus Romanus juxta systema Tournefortianum paulo strictus distributus. Rome: Bouchard and Gravier, 1772–1780

Hortus Romanus juxta systema Tournefortianum paulo strictus distributus. Rome: Bouchard and Gravier, 1772–1780 6 volumes (of 8), folio (22 x 15 1/2 in.; 560 x 392 mm). Half-titles, letterpress titles printed in red and black each with a different handcolored engraved vignette, double-page engraved prospectus Horti Romani by Andrea de Rossi printed in green, 5 engraved portraits of the Pope and 4 cardinals (Clement XIV, Bernis, Zelada, Giraud, and Boncampagnio), historiated engraved initials, 600  handcolored engraved plates chiefly by Maddalena Bouchard after Cesare Ubertini and Liberato and Constantino Sabbatin; lacking volumes 7–8, light to moderate discoloration of 12 text leaves and 90 plates, a few stains and smudges, chiefly to white ground of plates, short marginal tear to pl. 26 in vol. 4. Contemporary half vellum (dyed red) over geometrically patterned boards, spines lettered and decorated gilt; extremities abraded, losses to foot of spine in vol. 1, loss to head of spine in vol. 3, some chips and minor losses along length of spine of vol. 5.

bonelli, giorgio

L13406

Median folio (332 x 222mm.), Kalendarium: 9 leaves (of 10, without initial blank), Officium S. Stephani; Officium BMV in sabbato: 6 leaves; Psalterium: 38 leaves, a-d8 e6; Proprium de tempore et de sanctis, pars hiemalis: 150 leaves, f-z8 [et]6; Proprium de tempore, pars aestivalis, Proprium de sanctis, pars aestivalis: 158 leaves, aa-tt8 vv6; Commune sanctorum, 15 leaves (of 16, without final blank), A-B8, double column, 45 lines, gothic type, printed in red and black throughout, 1- to 3-line lombard initials, 6- to 9-line woodcut initials, large woodcut armorial printed in colours (with blue added by hand) of the diocese of Passau, bishops Schachner and Oettingen on verso of first leaf, woodcut illustration, large woodcut device on final recto printed in red and black, early annotations in different hands (including headlines and additions to the calendar dated 1522-1541), sixteenth-century German blind-tooled pigskin over wooden boards, two later clasps, modern cloth folding box, first and last leaves laid down, wormed (with some repairs), a few leaves with some staining, printed foliation slightly shaved on a few leaves, gg3 torn and repaired without loss, spine repaired at head and foot, binding wormed, lacking metal corner-pieces

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