Auction 43 Catalogue - Kestenbaum & Company

52
Lot 170
Lot 171
170 17 KOLON, JOSEPH. (MaHaRY”K). Shailoth Uteshuvoth
[responsa]. FIRST EDITION. A Wide-margined copy. ff.(10), 233. Some
staining, few words censored, (usually the word “meshumad” (apostate) or
“arel” (uncircumcised), previous owners’ signatures and stamps, fi nal leaf
slightly repaired not affecting text, censors’ signatures on fi nal leaf. Modern
gilt morocco. Lg. 4to. [Vinograd, Venice 15; Habermann, Bomberg 16
(erroneously notes only one preliminary leaf); not in Adams].
Venice, Daniel Bomberg: 1519. $1500-2500
❧ The MaHaRY”K (c. 1420-1480) was the foremost Talmudic
scholars during the second half of the 15th-century, his
opinions on Halachic matters were sought across Europe.
This important collection of responsa had a seminal
infl uence upon the development of the Halachah in Italy.
[SEE ILLUSTRATION LOWER LEFT]
171 17 (KORAN). Translated directly from Arabic to Hebrew by Tzvi
Chaim (Hermann) Reckendorff. FIRST HEBREW EDITION. Two titles,
German and Hebrew face-`a-face. Introduction in Rashi script,
text and footnotes in square Hebrew characters. pp. 48, 367, (3).
Stained, wear to title. Contemporary half-calf marbled boards. 8vo.
Leipzig, C.W. Vollrath: 1857. $4000-6000
❧ FIRST PRINTED HEBREW EDITION OF THE KORAN.
This Hebrew translation of the Koran precedes Joseph Joel Rivlin’s translation (Tel-
Aviv, 1936) by three quarters of a century. Although there exist in manuscript Hebrew
translations of the Koran from the sixteenth century, these were not done directly from
the Arabic original, but rather from Italian or Latin translations. Ours is the fi rst printed
translation of the Koran into Hebrew. See EJ, Vol. X, col. 1199.
The book contains an extensive Introduction, wherein the author points out specifi c
themes in the Koran that were borrowed from Rabbinic sources. The author also
acknowledges that he excerpts from Abraham Geiger’s, Was hat Mohammed aus dem
Judenthume aufgenommen? (Bonn, 1833).
According to the title, the translator, Reckendorf, was a member of the German
Orientalist Society in Halle and Leipzig, and of the Schiller Society. From the memorial, we
learn that the author’s father, Shlomo Reckendorf, was a teacher of Torah in the Moravian
community of Trebitsch.
[SEE ILLUSTRATION ABOVE LEFT]
172 LANDAU, EZEKIEL. Noda BeYehudah [responsa]. FIRST EDITION. Two parts bound in one.
THE R. YECHIEL HELLIR (AUTHOR OF AMUDEI OHR) COPY with his stamps (Yechiel Hellir - Rabin Suwalk) on titles. Plus related inscriptions. Scattered
marginalia including marginal note signed “Meir Ha-Levi “on Even Ha-Ezer no. 11 (f. 9). [Vinograd, Prague 914 and 1109].
Prague, 1776 and 1811. $600-900
❧ The inscriptions are from different time periods when R. Yechiel Hellir (1814-1862) served as Rabbi of Plungian, Wolkowisk and
Suwalk. See E. Katzman, Mofeth HaDor: HaGaon R. Yechiel Hellir, Baal Amudei Ohr in: Yeshurun Vol. IV (1998) pp. 648-82.
173 LERNER, MEIR. Chayei Olam [responsa concerning cremation]. Additional German title. pp. xxiv,133. Slightly browned, marginal tear on lower
left corner of title not affecting text. Original boards, rubbed. 8vo.
Berlin, Z. H. Itzkovsky: 1905. $200-300
❧ Meir Lerner (1857-1930) Chief Rabbi of Altona was a vigorous opponent of the Reform movement, especially their practice to permit
cremation instead of traditional full burial. Subsequently, Lerner refused to permit the burial of these ashes in a Jewish cemetery. In
order to support his position, Lerner gathered responsa from approximately 200 Rabbis from all over the world, running the gamut
from Lithuanian authorities such as R. Yechiel Michal Epstien, author of Aruch HaShulchan to Chassidic Rebbes such as R. Chaim
Elazar Shapiro of Munkatch, German Rabbinical scholars such as R. Asher Marx of Darmstadt and from Eretz Israel, The Adereth and
the author of the Sdei Chemed.