Manuscript, Yemenite rite Tiklal siddur, prayers for Shabbat and Festivals, with commentaries ("Chiddushin") by R. Yitzchak Wanneh. [Yemen, ca. 1663]. Includes additional leaves from different periods, some from earlier Tiklal siddurim [Yemen, ca. 1606 – ca. 18th century].
Large volume. Neat Yemenite script. The text of the prayers is vocalized (supralinear. Eicha and Shir HaShirim, sublinear), titles with calligraphic ornaments. The "Chiddushin" appear in the margins, written by the same scribe. The margins contain additional notes by other writers.
Various commentaries appear in the margins alongside most of the prayers (entitled "Chiddushin"): Novellae on Halacha and Aggada, with explanations according to Kabbalistic teachings. These passages are attributed to R. Yitzchak Wanneh's commentaries on the Tiklal (named Paamon Zahav). R. Yitzchak Wanneh, leading Yemenite Torah scholar, passed away in 1670, and this siddur is apparently an early copying of his writings, effected in his lifetime.
Prayers for weekdays and Shabbat; "Tikkunei Shabbat Malketa" by the Ari (copying from Tikkunei Shabbat, printed in Krakow ca. 1613); Pirkei Avot with commentaries (including an additional version for chapter six); a seventh chapter of Pirkei Avot (taken from Tractate Derech Eretz Zuta – which is customarily said on the seventh Shabbat before Shavuot, if the first day of Passover falls on Shabbat); prayers for Festivals: for Passover – including the Passover Haggadah with Judeo-Arabic translation; Shavuot – including Azharot; prayers and lamentations for the 9th of Av; prayers for Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur; Sukkot – including Hoshanot by R. Saadia Gaon; Chanukah – including Megillat Bnei Chashmona'i; Purim; funeral service; order of Selichot and Maranot (includes Selichot by R. Saadia Gaon and Spanish poets; piyyut of the Temple service by R. Avraham ibn Ezra); indexes of Selichot and Maranot; texts of blessings (laws of Blessings over Mitzvot in Judeo-Arabic) and calculations of leap-years, Moladot and Tekufot. The calendar of Moladot covers the period between 1662-1731. Amongst the leaves, a leaf of a Moladot calendar from an earlier Tiklal was found, beginning in 1605; texts of marriage contracts, divorce and other documents; words of reproof and supplications, texts of Vidui.
The manuscript is lacking the beginning and end. The name of the scribe, Aharon son of Saadia Al-Bichani, appears in the ornamented colophon at the end of the Selichot indexes (p. [163]b): "I will begin writing the order of Blessings with the help of G-d blessed be He, an attempt of my ink and quill – I, the youngest of scribes, Aharon son of Saadia known as Albichani".
Birth and death inscriptions from various periods. At the end of the calculation of Tekufot (p. [184b]), a document appears, recording the sale of the siddur to Hassan Yichye Jamil, from Salam son of Ma'uche Al-Yemeni, in 1736, signed by the witnesses: "Shalem ibn Oded" and "Saadia Aharon…".
[204] leaves, 29.5 cm + approx. 4 handwritten leaves in various sizes (located between the leaves of the book). Several leaves bound out of sequence. Fair condition. Stains and extensive wear. Open tears with loss to text. New binding.

Manuscript, three compositions by R. Levi son of Shem Tov Hallegua. [Cochin, India, 1871].
Oriental script (unusual writing).
Three compositions, apparently esoteric works, not adequately defined. The first composition contains grouped lists of words; the second consists of Kabbalistic diagrams, with combinations of Holy Names and verses; and the third is comprised of Holy Names derived from the initial and final letter of words, from passages of the Bible, arranged in the order of the books Yehoshua-Melachim.
The writer, R. "Levi son of Shem Tov Hallegua", signed his name three times in this manuscript, at the start of the first and third composition, and in the colophon of the third composition. In all three instances, he writes in a mysterious and cryptic way, and mentions the year 1871.
The second composition consists of diagrams with combinations of Holy Names. The diagrams occupy the center of each page, with lists and combinationsof various verses on both sides.
The third composition is followed by a page with two sections pertaining to enlarged and minimized letters in the Bible. The end of the manuscript is lacking.
The writer, R. Levi son of Shem Tov Hallegua, from the Hallegua family, a prominent family of the Paradesi community (the White Jews – descendants of immigrants to India) in Cochin. Two manuscripts are known to have been copied by him in Cochin, one of them in 1876 (see: Sassoon, Ohel David, pp. 260-261).
[41] leaves. 19.5 cm. Fair condition. Stains. [1] leaf from the middle composition and [3] last leaves detached, with tears affecting text. Some leaves partially detached. Ink-smudges to some leaves. Without binding.

Large leaf from a responsa notebook of R. Akiva Eiger – in his handwriting.
Large leaf, two columns per page, in R. Akiva Eiger's distinctive handwriting. This leaf contains over 160 lines in his handwriting.
Most of the contents of this leaf were published, some in different wording or context (see further in Hebrew description), but the last paragraph, regarding the Tosafot in Tractate Sukkah leaf 11, beginning with the words "I did not merit to plumb the depth on their holy words" and ending with "and this requires in-depth study" – was to the best of our knowledge never published.
The entire leaf is handwritten by R. Akiva Eiger, with inscriptions and marks in a different handwriting beside the text and between the lines. Most of the inscriptions were presumably noted by the sons of R. Akiva Eiger while preparing for print Part I of his responsa. This part was published in 1835 under the direct instruction of R. Akiva Eiger himself.
In two instances, the signature "Akiva" was added – for editing purposes, but these additions are presumably not in his handwriting. This leaf reveals the process the writings of R. Akiva Eiger underwent in preparation for publishing (see Hebrew description).
R. Akiva Eiger (1761-1837) was an eminent Torah scholar in his times, born in Eisenstadt to R. Moshe Güns and his mother - daughter of the first R. Akiva Eiger (Rabbi of Pressburg, author of Mishnat D'Rabbi Akiva). Before he reached bar-mitzvah age, he studied in the Breslau yeshiva under the tutelage of his uncle and teacher R. Binyamin Wolf Eiger and at the age of fifteen, already began delivering Torah lectures. After his marriage in 1778, he moved to Leszno (Lissa) to the home of his father-in-law R. Itzek Margolies. In spite of his young age, he was regarded as one of the leading scholars of the city which was the hub of Torah study at that time.
In 1792, he was appointed rabbi of Märkisch Friedland (Mirosławiec) and established a yeshiva there. In 1815, he began his 23-year tenure as rabbi of Posen (Poznań) until his death in 1837. In Posen as well, he founded a yeshiva and taught many disciples. He was a holy person with Divine Inspiration, though supremely humble and gracious, he knew how to insist upon the honor due to the Torah and the rabbinate. He issued numerous regulations and established many public institutions. He replied to the thousands of questions addressed to him from around the world and recorded many novellae.
His descendants were also leading Torah scholars: R. Shlomo Eiger (1786-1852), one of Warsaw's most influential Jews and his father's successor in the Posen rabbinate, author of Gilyon Maharsha and other books; R. Avraham Eiger of Rawicz who edited his father's writings (with his own additions signed "A.A.B.H.H." - acronym of the Hebrew "Amar Avraham ben HaRav HaMechaber" [Avraham, son of the author says]); his renowned son-in-law R. Moshe Sofer, the Chatam Sofer, who after the death of his first wife, wed the daughter of R. Akiva Eiger (Rebbetzin Sorel, who bore him R. Avraham Shmuel Binyamin Wolf, the Ktav Sofer, and R. Shimon Sofer, Rabbi of Kraków).
R. Akiva Eiger devoted his entire life to Torah study and was known for his amazing proficiency and deep interpretations which became basic tenets of Torah learning until our times. His books and novellae are key Torah texts for yeshiva students and poskim alike. R. Elazar Menachem Shach, author of Avi Ezri, writes in his approbation to the book Pote'ach She'arim - Some of the Torah Teachings of R. Akiva Eiger (Jerusalem, 1985) "For us, R. Akiva Eiger, his opinions and reasoning are as conclusive as one of the Rishonim…".
His works include: Responsa of R. Akiva Eiger, published by his sons in his lifetime, under his instruction. After his demise, his sons continued publishing his novellae in Drush VeChiddush, and additional parts of his responsa series. They also printed Gilyon HaShas, glosses (printed in his lifetime in the Prague and Vilna editions of the Talmud), his glosses on Shulchan Aruch and Tosefot R. Akiva on the Mishna. Additional responsa and novellae from manuscripts are being printed until this day (such as the books Kushiot Atzumot, Ketav VeChotam, Michtavei R. Akiva Eiger and others). His various books were reprinted in many editions, some revised and expanded, with the addition of selections of his Torah teachings from other sources, which are "meager in one place and prolific in another".
[1] leaf, [2] pages. 35 cm. Good condition. Stains.
The sections contained in this leaf were published, with several variations, in Responsa of R. Akiva Eiger Part I, sections 1, 16 and 135; and in Osef Genazim section 8; apart from one passage which to the best of our knowledge is hitherto unpublished.