Auction 43 Catalogue - Kestenbaum & Company

35 AARON BERACHIAH BEN MOSES OF MODENA. Ma’avar Yabok [prayers for
the sick and dead]. Title-page in red and black. With imitation Proops printer ‘s
mark of hands held in priestly blessing. Wide-margined copy. Printed mostly on
green tinted paper. ff. (4), 224 (of 228) lacking ff. 221-24. With inscription and signatures
of members of “Chabura Kadisha of Oiber Vishiva” on front fl y leaf, title and f. 205, fi nal
seven leaves repaired affecting text, some staining, tear on f. 45, scattered marginalia, some
leaves worn from use, slight worming. Modern morocco. 4to. [Vinograd, Ostrog 95 (JNUL
copy also incomplete); A.Yaari, Hadefus Ha’ivri Be’Ostraha, Alei Sefer, Vol II, no. 64].
Ostrog [Ostroha] (pseudo Amsterdam), Aaron ben Yonah (pseudo Proops): 1817.
$300-500
❧ With approbations of the Rabbi of Ostrog given to Aaron ben Yonah and
R. Yisrael, the son of of the Chassidic Master, Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev.
The author (d. 1639), was a follower of the Lurianic Kabbalah as
transmitted to Italian scholars by the mystic, R. Israel Sarug. R. Chaim
Joseph David Azulai attests he saw several kabbalistic manuscripts of R.
Aaron Berechiah in the Modena home of his descendants, members of the
Sanguinetti family. Azulai informs further, that apparently the author was
visited regularly by a Maggid or celestial guide. See Shem ha-Gedolim I,
A-121; EJ, Vol. II, col. 18; Vol. XIV, col. 890.
36 ABOAB, ISAAC. Menorath ha-Ma’or [“The Candelabrum of Light”: Ethical
Treatise]. Provenance: Joseph Schreiber, the youngest son of the Chaham Sopher.
ff.116. Some staining, marginal repair on title and elsewhere, marginalia in an Aschkenazic
hand. Previous owners’ signatures on front fl yleaf “Yuzpe ben-Ha-G[aon] M[oshe] S[ofer] -
Joseph Schreiber” and further on fi nal leaf in Ashkenazic and Italian hands, including Shmaya
Aboulafi a of Pesaro. Later gilt calf. Folio. [Vinograd Mantua 95; St. Cat. Bodl. 5294, 6].
Mantua, G. Ruffi nelli: 1563. $1200-1500
❧ RARE. The signatory on the front fl y leaf was the youngest son of the
Chatham Sofer (1825-1883). His-son-in-law was R. Yehudah Greenwald,
Rabbi of Satmar. For more details, see M.A.Z. Kinstlicher, He-Chatham
Sofer V’Talmidav (2005), pp. 204-06 (includes facs. of signature).
The publishers state on the title-page that based upon an old manuscript they
have corrected many errors that appeared in earlier editions. First published in
Constantinople in 1514, Menorath ha-Ma’or has been an immensely popular
and inspirational ethical work throughout the ages.
[SEE ILLUSTRATION ABOVE RIGHT]
37 ABRABANEL, DON ISAAC. Pirush al Nevi’im Acharonim [commentary to the
Later Prophets]. Commendatory poem by Judah Abrabanel, son of the author
on verso of title. Second edition. Title within architectural border. With rare
additional title-page in Latin. Signatures of previous owner on the title: “Yoseph
Salnik,” grandson of the author of Responsa Masath Binyamin. Scattered
marginalia. ff. (2), 305. Few leaves mispaginated as in all copies, fi rst six leaves loose,
fi nal leaf laid down, some staining. Contemporary vellum, rubbed. Folio. [Vinograd,
Amsterdam 56; St. Cat. Bodl. 479; Zedner p. 122; Roest p. 193; Fuks, Amsterdam 204].
Amsterdam, (Immanuel Benveniste): 1641-42. $4000-5000
❧ THIS COPY WITH THE SCARCE LATIN TITLE-PAGE DATED 1642 - NOT IN THE
STEINSCHNEIDER, ZEDNER OR ROEST COPIES.
Fuks (no. 204) writes, “Roest states that the copy of the Rosenthal
Collection lacks the Latin title-page which he reproduces... He evidently
knew a copy with both Lat. and Heb. title-pp. Neither Steinschneider nor
Zedner list copies with Lat. title-pp.”
In the unusual inscription, the previous owner thanks God he “merited
to buy this holy, delightful book written by my relative the Gaon of blessed
memory. For I too am descended from King David as I am a grandson
of the Gaon R. Shlomo Luria.” Also cited are other renowned ancestral
personalities including the Mahara”m of Padua.
[SEE ILLUSTRATION BOTTOM RIGHT]
Lot 36
Lot 37
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