Auction 87 - Jewish and Israeli Art, History and Culture
Including: sketches by Ze'ev Raban and Bezalel items, hildren's books, avant-garde books, rare ladino periodicals, and more
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Bound volume of issues of the weekly "El Instructor, revista sientifika y literaria" ("The Instructor, scientific and literary review"), edited by David Fresco. Year one, issues 1-32 (no additional issues were published). Galata, Istanbul, 1888. Ladino.
The periodical El Instructor, edited by David Fresco (1853-1933), prominent Ladino translator, journalist and public figure, was published during the course of 1888 (1st Iyar 1888 – 11th Kislev 1888). It features articles on literature, science, history, the Jewish world, and includes serialized stories and novels, riddles and quizzes, and more. In the main editorial in the first issue, Fresco writes: "After dedicating more than 13 of my best years to publishing the newspaper El Telegrafo, I realized it was necessary to renounce from it […] and I am beginning now with the publication of a new newspaper titled El Instructor" (quoted by Gaon, see below).
Rare. The complete collection of issues is held in the NLI and other libraries in microfilm only.
See: Dov Cohen, Thesaurus of Ladino Books, Yad Ben Zvi, 2021. No. 3480. • Moshe David Gaon, A Bibliography of the Judeo-Spanish (Ladino) Press, Yad Ben Zvi, 1965, no. 15.
The editor of the periodical, David Fresco (1853-1933), was closely associated with the Alliance Israélite Universelle, and was known to enthusiastically support the integration of Jews as equal citizens in the Ottoman empire, among other things by encouraging Westernization in all areas of life. This viewpoint is expressed in El Instructor, one of several publications edited by Fresco, the purpose of which was "to educate the readers about the latest trends in hygiene, child-rearing, nutrition, and the natural and human sciences" (Abrevaya Stein, p. 124; see below). El instructor and other periodicals edited by Fresco were comprised almost entirely of articles translated from contemporary English- and French-language periodicals, and offered Jewish readers "models of how to eat, drink, sleep, exercise, breath and behave" (ibid). They thus served as a platform for furthering the interests of the Alliance. Nevertheless, given that they were written in Ladino, they were perceived as intrinsically Jewish periodicals.
Fresco was criticized for not being Zionist, and for expressing hostility to the Zionist movement and its institutions, which he rejected in favor of the integration of Jews in the general society. Nevertheless, in the various forums he wrote in, Fresco defended the rights of the Jews, and dealt with attacks against them in Turkish newspapers, while at the same time displaying absolute loyalty to the Ottoman Empire, and after 1923, to the Republic of Turkey.
See: Sarah Abrevaya Stein, "Making Jews Modern: the Yiddish and Ladino Press in the Russian and Ottoman Empires, Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana UP, 2004.
32 issues, bound together. 318 pp. (8-12 pages per issue; continuous pagination). Approx. 38 cm. Overall good condition. Stains (dark stains to several leaves). Minor marginal tear, some open, not affecting text, repaired in part. Minor creases. Some handwritten notations. New binding and endpapers.
Five bound volumes of issues of the literary supplement to the newspaper "El Telegrafo" – "El Telegrafo, Edicion de Martes" (The Telegraph: Tuesday edition), edited by Isak son of Yehezkel Gabbay. Years 1-5 – 241 issues. Galata (Istanbul), 1888-1893. Ladino.
Five bound volumes of issues of the literary supplement to El Telegrafo, distributed on Tuesdays. The supplement, which began appearing in 1888, featured articles on various literary topics, serials, poems, and various items relating to culture and science (including a series of articles dedicated to the 1889 Paris World's Fair). Illustrations in some issues.
An additional supplement to El Telegrafo was published on Thursdays (titled "El Telegrafo, Edicion de Jueves"). According to Dov Cohen (see below), it is unclear whether the two supplements appeared concurrently or in different years.
241 issues, in five volumes. This is presumably an almost complete collection of the supplement's issues. The first volume, from 1888, is especially rare. Dov Cohen notes (based on the copies in the Yad Ben Zvi library): "We saw issues from vols. 2-5… the last one being: vol. 5 [year 16], no. 48, 26th Tishrei 1893" (the last issue in the present volumes is issue 47, 4th Tishrei 1893).
Little is known about the editor, Isak son of Yehezkel Gabbay (d. 1930 in Istanbul). Gabbay – a writer, journalist, editor and translator – was a member of a prominent Spanish family, son of Judge Yehezkel Gabbay, and brother of the writer Rosa Gabbay. His father founded the newspaper Journal Israelit (Cohen, no. 3549), which became the El Nasyonal (ibid, no. 3650), and eventually the El Telegraf (later El Telegrafo). Gabbay edited the paper, one of the most prominent amongst Ladino speakers in the Ottoman Empire, throughout most years of its publication; he was preceded by the prominent journalist David Fresco.
Issues:
• Vol. I (years 10-11 of the publication of the main edition of El Telegrafo), issue nos. 1-50 – 29th Nissan 1888 to 8th Nissan 1889. 398 pp. Lacking final leaf of issue no. 50. Includes title page and table of contents for entire volume.
• Vol. II (years 11-12 of the main edition), issue nos. 1-48 – 23rd Nissan 1889 to 11th Nissan 1890. 384 pp. Includes table of contents for entire volume.
• Vol. III (years 12-13 of main edition), issue nos. 1-48 – 25th Nissan 1890 to 12th Nissan 1891. 382 pp. Includes table of contents for entire volume.
• Vol. IV (years 13-14 of main edition), issue nos. 1-48 – 27th Nissan 1891 to 5th Sivan 1892. 384 pp.
• Vol. V (years 14-15 of main edition), issue nos. 1-47 – 19th Sivan 1892 to 4th Tishrei 1893. 376 pp.
See: • Dov Cohen, Thesaurus of Ladino Books, Yad Ben Zvi, 2021. No. 3575. • Moshe David Gaon, A Bibliography of the Judeo-Spanish (Ladino) Press, Yad Ben Zvi, 1965, no. 117.
5 volumes, approx. 33.5 cm. Condition varies. Overall good-fair condition. Stains, including foxing and dampstains, some large. Closed and open tears, affecting text; long tears to some leaves (across leaf). Some tears (non-professionally) repaired with paper. Some leaves detached or loose. Loose gatherings in last volume (binding partially detached). Minor worming to some issues. Ottoman revenue stamps. Wear and defects to bindings. Four bindings incorporate original leather spines.
Six bound volumes of issue of the satiric periodical "El Jugeton" (also: El Gugeton), edited by Elia Rafael Carmona. Years 2-7 – 293 issues. Istanbul: Arditi press, 1910-1915. Ladino.
The newspaper features "mostly satirical literary texts, such as poems, parodies and articles criticizing the community leadership and figures etc. Includes serialized stories, many of them by Carmona, the editor" (Cohen, see below). Some issues printed on colored paper. Occasional cartoons and illustrations.
293 issues – all the issues for years 2-7 of the periodical's publication (in six volumes): • Year 2, 51 consecutive issues – Nissan 1910 to Adar 1911. • Year 3, 51 consecutive issues – Adar 1911 to Adar 1912. • Year 4, 52 consecutive issues – Nissan 1912 to Adar I 1913. • Year 5, 52 consecutive issues – Adar II 1913 to Adar 1914. • Year 6, 43 consecutive issues – Adar 1914 to Adar 1915. • Year 7, 44 consecutive issues – Adar 1915 to Nissan 1916.
Rare. A complete collections of consecutive issues from these years is scarce.
The editor, Elia Rafael Carmona (1869-1931/5), humorist and satirist, prominent Ladino journalist and writer, was born in Istanbul to a Sephardic family of distinguished lineage. He authored romances, novellas and serialized novels; worked as typist for the journalist David Fresco, with whom he held close ties. After the 1908 Young Turks Revolution, which allowed for greater freedom of publication in the Ottoman Empire, he began publishing the El Jugeton. The paper gained popularity and was published for over two decades.
See: Dov Cohen, Thesaurus of Ladino Books, Yad Ben Zvi, 2021. No. 3546. • Moshe David Gaon, A Bibliography of the Judeo-Spanish (Ladino) Press, Ben Zvi Institute, 1965, no. 86.
6 volumes. Most issues 8-pages long. Size and condition vary. Overall good condition (some issues in good-fair condition). Stains. Tears, mostly minor. One leaf torn in half; several leaves with long tears, repaired. Margins of some issues trimmed, slightly affecting text. Minor worming to some issues. Ink faded on several leaves. Some handwritten notations. A few leaves detached or partially detached. Minor defects to bindings.
1. Silabario judeo-español y primo libro de lectura [Judeo-Spanish study book, first reader]. [Thessaloniki]: published by Ovadia Naar, Ecler press, [ca. 1925].
From p. 19 onwards – Primo libro de lectura, a reader with a variety of texts in Ladino (presumably by Yaakov son of Eliyahu HaKohen, who published the book Lecturas Diversas in Thessaloniki ca. 1890).
In the 1920s and 1930s, Ovadia S. Naar published several editions of a textbook for the study of Ladino (with different content), sometimes using the same title page for several editions. The present book is the ca. 1925 edition, with the title page of the ca. 1920 edition. See: Dov Cohen, Thesaurus of the Ladino Book 1490-1960, Jerusalem 2022, listing nos. 2734, 2736 and 2737.
32 pp. (including wrappers), 20 cm. Good condition. Stains, including minor dampstains. Creases. Small wormhole through all leaves (with minute damage to text). Pinholes and some minor closed and open tears to edges (not affecting text), repaired in part. Lower margins trimmed unevenly. With new paper wrappers.
2. Nuevo silabario español, metod prática y moderna por el enseñamiento dela lingua judeo-española [New Spanish study book. Practical and Modern Method for the Study of Judeo-Spanish]. Thessaloniki: Ovadia S. Naar, 1931.
From p. 22 onwards – Segunda parte y primo libro de lectura, texts on various topics. Printed based on the Thessaloniki 1929 edition. See: Dov Cohen, Thesaurus of Ladino Books 1490-1960, Jerusalem 2022, listing nos. 2738-2739.
Inked stamp on the back wrapper – Offenbach Archival Depot (warehouse of the U.S. Army in the town of Offenbach am Main in the American sector of Germany, where millions of books, manuscripts and documents looted by the Germans during WWII were collected. Some were later returned to their previous owners, while others were sent to various libraries and collections around the world).
[40] pp., approx. 20 cm. Good condition. Minor blemishes. Inked stamps on wrappers. New card binding (bound with original wrappers).
A collection of Jewish and Arabic songs from the Andalusi tradition, arranged in nūbāt (the andalusi nūbah is a multi-movement musical piece, comparable to the suite form in western classical music). Compiled by Algerian-Jewish musician Edmond Nathan Yafil, the anthology seeks to preserve the musical tradition of Muslim Spain's golden age, rooted in both Jewish and Muslim cultures. Published concurrently with a nearly identical book in Arabic. Both preserve hundreds of classical texts which, if not for this publication, may have been lost.
Edmond Nathan Yafil (1874-1928), a prominent and highly-respected Algerian-Jewish musician, regarded as one of the greatest North-African musicians in Muslim and Jewish circles alike. Studied under the famous Algerian musician Muhammad Bin Ali Sfindja. Yafil headed the El Moutribia school and ensemble, and was a key figure in the revival of Andalusi music in Algeria, having also published dozens of books containing traditional Algerian nubat, which he compiled and transcribed into the western notation system. The present book and its Arabic twin played an important role in the documentation and preservation project of traditional Andalusi music.
For further reading:
• Shiloah, Amnon. "The Activity of Jewish Musicians in Classical Algerian Music and Related Areas". Pe'amim, vol. 91, 2002, pp. 51-64.
• Silver, Christopher. "Recording History: Jews, Muslims, and Music across Twentieth Century North Africa". Stanford University Press, 2022.
[2] ff., 390 pp., [3] ff., 2, 26 pp., approx. 23 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains. Creases. Numerous library stamps. Numerous penned and penciled inscriptions. Some pages loose or partially detached. Tears, including small open tears, to edges of several pages. Hardcover with leather spine and gilt lettering. Damage and wear to cover. Several softcover copies are known of.
Single printed leaf, with a Hebrew translation of the traditional Christian hymn"Veni Creator Spiritus" – 52 vocalized lines, arranged in two columns, within an ornamental border.
Rare. Not listed in the Bibliography of the Hebrew Book, nor in OCLC.
The present version of the hymn was written by the orientalist Christoph Hammer (1550-1597), who was among the first professors of Oriental languages in Jena; he dedicated the hymn to Friedrich Wilhelm I, duke of Saxe-Weimar. Perhaps inspired by Martin Luther's German translation of the hymn, Hammer wrote the Hebrew version in metre and rhyme, unlike the original Latin version.
Most Hebrew works published in the 16th century Germany were printed in Christian presses, which, due to a lack of sufficient knowledge of Hebrew, employed Jewish typesetters and proofreaders (this holds true to the present hymn as well.) The great majority of Christian Hebrew texts printed during the 16th century were Bibles, grammar books, and scholarly works; the publication of a traditional Christian hymn in the Hebrew language during this period was an exceedingly rare occurrence.
[1] f., approx. 41 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains. Creases. Fold lines. Closed and open tears to edges and along fold lines. Small inscription in margin. Mounted on thin paper.
Latin booklet for the study of Hebrew; motto on verso of title page (in Hebrew and latin): "The Holy Tongue is the mother of all tongues". At the end of the booklet, Hebrew translation of three Christian prayers: Lord's Prayer (Oratio dominicalis), Ave Maria (Salutatio Angelica) and Apostle's Creed (Symbolum Apostolorum).
The book was printed by the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith (Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide). It opens with a preface by Italian philologist Giovanni Cristofano Amaduzzi (1740-1792), professor of Greek at the University of Rome La Sapienza and superintendent of the press of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith.
The Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith (since 1982 – the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples) was founded by Pope Gregory XV in 1622 to arrange missionary work on behalf of the various religious institutions. It established its own library and press in Rome, as well as a seminary for the training of missionaries (Collegium Urbanium) and encouraged its people to study Hebrew and other languages that they would encounter in their missionary work.
16 pp., 17.5 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains. Tears and minor blemishes to inner margin of title page (minor damage to imprint). Inner margins of title page and several other leaves repaired with paper. Rebound in card boards with leather spine.
Collection of booklets and leaflets, printed in Paris – prayers and poems in honor of the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, including official publications of the Assembly of Jewish Notables and the Grand Sanhedrin established by Napoleon in Paris.
• Printed leaflet, call from "The Assembly of Deputies of the Jewish People, residing in France and Italy, convened here in Paris, to their co-religionists". Paris, Tishrei / October 1806. Hebrew and Italian (on facing pages).
• Printed leaflet, call issued by the Grand Sanhedrin, to pray for the success of Napoleon. Paris, [1806]. With the (printed) signatures of: R. Yosef David Sinzheim, R. Naftali Hirsch Katzenellenbogen, R. Yehoshua Ben Zion Segre, R. Mazal Tov Modena, R. Avraham Chai de Cologna, and others. Hebrew only.
• Printed booklet in honor of Napoleon's birthday – "Ode pour le Jour de la Naissance de Napoleon le Grand" [Ode for the birthday of Napoleon the Great], by R. Avraham Chai de Cologna of Mantua. Paris, 1806. Hebrew and French.
• Printed booklet in honor of Napoleon's birthday – "L'Augusto Anniversario della Nascita di s. m. Napoleone il Grande" [The August anniversary of the birth of Napoleon the Great], by R. Mazal Tov (Buonaventura) Modena, "Dedicated to the president of the gathering, R. Avraham Furtado". Paris, 1806. Hebrew and Italian.
• Printed booklet, "Prayer for the Jewish people residing in France and Italy, for the success of the armies of our master, the emperor and king, Napoleon the Great". Paris, Cheshvan 1806. "Printed in the imperial printing house".
• "Orazione Degli Ebrei di Mantova" [Prayer of the Jewish People of the Mantua Community], printed leaf, one side Hebrew and the other side Italian – prayer for a healthy, easy pregnancy and birth for "the Empress and Queen Marie Louise… wife of His Majesty… the Emperor and King Napoleon the Great", Mantua, [ca. 1811].
Napoleon's relationship with the Jews was complex. On the one hand, Jews received equal rights under his protection, and he tried to obtain their allegiance with various gestures. One the other hand, he aspired to increase the the control over the Jews and sought to "reform" them. In July 1806, Napoleon convened the "Assembly of Jewish Notables" in Paris, which included rabbis mostly from France and Italy, in order to discuss and reach conclusions regarding the Jews in his empire. Later that year, Napoleon decided to assemble a more exclusive gathering, named "Sanhedrin" and numbering 71 members, to authorize and thus accord religious validity to the conclusions issued by the Assembly. R. David Sinzheim, author of Yad David, was appointed head of the Sanhedrin, and some of the leading Italian rabbis of the time served as members. These printed items were for the most part issued that year in Paris, by representatives of the Jewish Assembly and of the Grand Sanhedrin (for more information regarding Napoleon and the Jews, see: Baruch Mevorach, Napoleon UTekufato, Jerusalem 1968).
6 items. Size varies. Most booklets and leaflets in good condition.
• Verordeningen Voor Het Israelitisch Kerkgenootschap Binnen Het Koningrijk Der Nederlanden [Regulations for the Jewish Community in the Kingdom of the Netherlands]. Three Volumes. The Hague: Algemeene Lands Drukkerij, 1822, 1830, 1842. Parts 1-3.
Three volumes, including 150 regulations – comprising all the regulations legislated since 1814, when the organization of the "Nederlands-Israëlitisch Kerkgenootschap" [Dutch Israelite Religious Community] was established, until 1840. The regulations are numbered I-CL.
Including a title page and a list of regulations. Original paper wrappers (thick, blue paper).
• 40 regulations from the years 1841-1868 – separate booklets (marked "fourth part" on the upper-left corner).
Number of pages varies, 22-23 cm. Good condition. Stains and creases (mostly minor). Minor marginal tears to a few leaves. Handwritten notations to several leaves. Wrappers slightly worn; Open tears to spines.
Bne-Zion: ein religiös-moralisches Lehrbuch für die Jugend israelitischer Nation [Bne-Zion: a Religious-Moral Primer for the Youth of the Israelite Nation], [by Naphtali Herz Homberg.] Vienna: Verlagsgewölbe des k. k. Schulbücher-Verschleisses [official publisher of school books in Austria, ] 1812. German.
A textbook for Jewish youth, by the maskil Naphtali Herz Homberg (1749-1841.) Modelled on Austrian catechisms, it aimed to guide the youth in the Jewish faith, and teach them loyalty to the Austrian authorities.
The book includes chapters on the nature of man, the Ten Commandments, God, the duties of man to himself and to his fellow man, and his civil duties. It was written in early 19th century and received an approbation from Rabbi Mordechai Banet. In 1810, an imperial decree dictated that the book be used as a required textbook in Jewish schools throughout the Austrian Empire, and that Jewish couples be examined on its contents before receiving permission to marry.
Bene-Zion was printed twice in 1812: once in Vienna, without indication of the author's name, and once in Augsburg, with the name of the author appearing on the title page.
Homberg, a student of Moses Mendelssohn, was a loyal adherent of the Austrian regime. He worked as a teacher and a censor, and was the superintendent of the Jewish-German schools in Galicia. Notorious for his relentless efforts to modernize Jewish education traditions, Homberg was a thoroughly despised figure in the traditional Jewish world.
For further reading, see: Rachel Manekin, "Herz Homberg, the Individual and the Image." Zion, Vol. 71, No. 2, 2006. pp. 153-202 (Hebrew.)
[4] ff., 182 pp., 17.5 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains. Worming, with minor damage to text. Minor open tears to upper corners of some leaves. Open tear to title page. Repaired worming to title page (minor damage to text). Slits in two leaves (pp. 69-72), with minor damage to text, restored in part with paper. Scribbles and ink stains to several leaves. New binding.
29 photographs from the estate of Gerson Margolies, cantor of the Tempelgasse Synagogue in Vienna. Most photographs are printed on postcards. Vienna, London, Manchester, Leeds, Budapest, and other places. Ca. first half of the 20th century.
The collection is comprised of various portrait and group photographs (most of them printed on postcards), given to the cantor Gerson Margolies by his colleagues – cantors from Austria, England, Hungary, and elsewhere; among them are Don Fuchs (Vienna), Israel Tkatch (Budapest), Harris Newmann (Manchester), and others. Some bear autograph dedications by the cantors photographed. Pen inscriptions on most photographs.
Some photographs were taken at the funeral of rabbi Zwi Perez Chajes (1876-1927.)
Enclosed: printed greeting card, with portrait of cantor Yitzhak Zvi Hirsch Heilpern (autogrp dedication in Heilpern's hand on verso;) paper card with a portrait of Gerson Margolies.
Gerson Herz Margolies was born ca. 1885 in Kalvarija, Lithuania. Served as chief cantor in the liberal Tempelgasse Synagogue (Leopoldstädter Tempel), in the Leopoldstadt district of Vienna. Margolies was a well-known cantor in his day – a tenor who toured extensively, and performed for Jewish communities around the world.
Margolies was a devoted Zionist activist. According to newspaper reports from the period, he immigrated to Palestine in 1935, but apparently did not settle there. Other sources, including an identification card, issued in his name by the Jewish community of Vienna (Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien; see next lot), indicate that Margolies served as the Tempelgasse synagogue cantor at least until June 1938; the synagogue was burnt to the ground during the Kristallnacht pogrom, several months later. Margolies managed to escape to England, and from there he continued on to the USA; he died in New York in 1953, and, in accordance with his last will and testament, was buried in Har HaMenuchot cemetery in Jerusalem. Recordings of his performances, which were never published, are found in the archives of " ANU – Museum of the Jewish People, " in Tel Aviv.
31 photographs. Size and condition vary. Good overall condition. Stains and minor blemishes.
A large and varied collection of approx. 140 paper items, belonging to the Viennese cantor Gerson Herz Margolies (d. 1953) – postcards, letters, certificates, concert programs and posters, and more. Vienna, USA, Palestine, and other places. Early 20th century to the 1950s. German, Yiddish, English, Hebrew, and other languages.
A large and varied collection of items documenting the life and work of Gerson Herz Margolies, cantor of the Tempelgasse synagogue in Vienna.
Included: dozens of postcards, including real-photo postcards, sent to Margolies and his family by friends and colleagues throughout the world; dozens of personal and professional letters, written in various languages (most are handwritten;) dozens of family photographs, and photographs of Margolies himself; a number of personal certificates belonging to Margolies, including an identification card, issued in his name by the Jewish community in Vienna (Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien;) this card attests to the fact that Margolies served as chief cantor (Oberkantor) in the Grossen Leopoldstädter Tempel in Vienna at least until the end of June, 1938 (the synagogue was burnt to the ground during the Kristallnacht pogrom, November 10, 1938;) a eulogy written by Margolies in honor of his late friend, the cantor Don Fuchs (typewritten;) program of a concert with the participation of Margolies, held during the XII. Zionist Congress in Karlsbad; five posters (torn) advertising Margolies' concerts in Vienna, Tel Aviv and elsewhere; citation of honor bestowed on Margolies by the Zionist Organization of America; and more.
Gerson Herz Margolies was born ca. 1885 in Kalvarija, Lithuania. Served as chief cantor in the liberal Tempelgasse Synagogue (Leopoldstädter Tempel), in the Leopoldstadt district of Vienna. Margolies was a well-known cantor in his day – a tenor who toured extensively, and performed for Jewish communities around the world.
Margolies was a devoted Zionist activist. According to newspaper reports from the period, he immigrated to Palestine in 1935, but apparently did not settle there. Other sources, including an identification card, issued in his name by the Jewish community of Vienna (Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien; mentioned above), indicate that Margolies served as the Tempelgasse synagogue cantor at least until June 1938; the synagogue was burnt to the ground during the Kristallnacht pogrom, several months later. Margolies managed to escape to England, and from there he continued on to the USA; he died in New York in 1953, and, in accordance with his last will and testament, was buried in Har HaMenuchot cemetery in Jerusalem. Recordings of his performances, which were never published, are found in the archives of " ANU – Museum of the Jewish People, " in Tel Aviv.
Approx. 140 paper items. Size and condition vary. Good overall condition (posters in fair-poor condition).