Instruttione et Allegatione per gli Hebrei del Stato di Milano […] [Instructions and statements in favor of the Jews of the State of Milan…]. [Milan, after April 25, 1589]. Italian.
The present memorandum represents a long defense of the right of Jews to reside in the territories of the Duchy of Milan. It is dated 1589 – a time when the Duchy of Milan was under the rule of the Spanish Crown – and was dispatched to Madrid at the request of King Philip II of Spain, who, in those days, was pondering whether or not to expel the Jews. The memorandum, prepared by the Senate of Milan, provides a list of theological, economic and legal reasons why the Jews should not be expelled, all on condition that they obey the laws of the Duchy and behave properly. It includes a series of affidavits signed (in print) by non-Jewish officials and magistrates from across the Duchy of Milan, and mentions the contribution made by Jews to the economic and commercial prosperity of the various cities. Toward the end, the document gives an assessment of the total population of Jews residing in all the cities under the jurisdiction of the Duchy: 889 individuals in all.
The presence of Jews in the city of Milan is documented dating back as far as the Roman period. Jews had first been expelled from the city in 1320, and over the following period of roughly three hundred years, they were allowed to return and settle there, only to be periodically expelled time after time. Notwithstanding all the arguments contained in the present memorandum, in 1591 Philip II decided to have the Jews of the Duchy of Milan expelled once again, and the order was put into effect in 1597.

Rare document: Not in NLI nor in OCLC.

[3] leaves (six printed pages) + [1] blank leaf. 32 cm. Good condition. Stains, including dampstains and ink stains. Tears, including minor open tears, partly mended with paper. Fold lines. Handwritten notation (Hebrew) on blank leaf: "Testimonies from the State of Milan that they cannot expel the Jews"; several additional notations. New paper cover.

Reference:
1. Shlomo Simonsohn, The Jews in the Duchy of Milan, Vol. III, 1566-1788, Jerusalem, 1982, pp. 1813-19.
2. Flora Cassen, The Expulsion of the Jews from the State of Milan: Same Event with Views from Different Archives, Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History, Vol. 14, 2017.

Printed Aleph-Bet chart, with an abridged Birkat HaMazon and other blessings, Shema and several other prayer texts. Venice, [ca. 18th century].
Folding chart for teaching reading, including various texts. The upper part of the leaf shows the letters of the Hebrew alphabet with various vowel points. The alphabet is flanked on the right by an abridged version of Birkat HaMazon and other blessings; and on the left by the first paragraph of Shema, kedushah and the morning blessings. The chart also features two Psalms and the bedtime service, with the Hashkivenu blessing printed in three different rites (Ashkenazi, Sephardi and Italian).
The center of the leaf is occupied by a fine illustration of a class of students. Several students are seen studying by a table, with a winged figure hovering over them and showering them with treats. Near them is a teacher brandishing a whip, ready to hit a disobedient student.

Approx. 47X35 cm. Good condition. Many stains. Folding marks. Part of illustration and letters slightly faded. Linen-backed (edged with green fabric). Placed in original card slipcase. Blemishes to slipcase.

Such charts were printed in Italy from the mid-17th century until the 19th century. Most of the charts were printed in a similar format, with the Aleph-Bet chart in the center and accompanying texts (with typographic variations). The illustration at the center of this leaf also appears in all other charts, with minor variations in details (in earlier charts the illustration is a woodcut, while in later ones it is engraved). The present chart is different from all other charts we have seen, and to the best of our knowledge it is the sole existing exemplar.
For details about other Aleph-Bet charts printed in Italy, and about the variations between the illustrations, see: Y. Yudlov, Italian Alphabet Charts, Kiryat Sefer, 62, 1988-1989, pp. 930-932.

Decorated Esther scroll, including the blessings over the Megillah reading recited prior to and following the traditional reading of the scroll on Purim. Housed in a decorated silver case created by the silversmith Angelo Giannotti, Rome. Scroll: [ca. 1800]. Silver case: [first half of 19th century].
Ink and paint on parchment; silver (marked in several places with city mark and maker's mark), cast, turned, pierced and engraved; gilt.
Esther scroll; inscribed in Sephardic-Italian script on four parchment membranes. Text of Book of Esther inscribed in 46 columns, averaging 13 rows per column. Just before the main body of text is a single column inscribed with the blessings over the megillah reading. Following the main body are additional five columns inscribed with the blessing recited after the Megillah reading, followed by the liturgical poem "Korei Megillah" by Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra. The first column is left blank. The text is enclosed within decorative greenish-golden rectangular frames. Similarly colored in greenish gold are the letters of the word "Barukh" ("Blessed") at the beginning and end of the scroll, as well as the letters of the opening words to each of the verses of "Korei Megillah".
The scroll is housed within a cylindrical silver case whose surface is decorated with vegetal patterns; toward the top and bottom, the cylinder in encircled by slender, elegant decorative bands. The case is surmounted by a serrated crown with a dome-like ornament at its center. This is in turn surmounted by an additional, smaller crown with more numerous serrations and with a similar dome at its center. An elegant ornament in the shape of a rampant lion grasping a palm frond, made of cast and gilt silver, surmounts the center of the upper crown. This ornament is most probably meant to represent the emblem of Rome's Di Castro family; it also appears on an embroidered textile (mappa) donated in 1699 to Rome's Scola Nuova synagogue, as well as on the family's ketubot (marriage contracts), on an additional Esther scroll (in the Israel Museum Collection); and on several spice containers from Rome dating from the 18th and 19th centuries.
The silversmith Angelo Giannotti was active in Rome circa 1815-65. He created a variety of silver articles, including many candlesticks, hanging lamps, a goblet, and other items. Among his works are a small number of Judaica items, including a silver binding dated circa 1840 (see Sotheby's, December 13, 2006, item no. 81) and a spice container (see "Arte ebraica a Roma e nel Lazio", p. 104, item no. 82) with the emblem of the Di Castro family at the top. The present Esther scroll is therefore part of a very short list of Judaica items created by this silversmith, and, to the best of our knowledge, is the only extant Esther scroll case produced by him.
For Esther scrolls similar in design to this one – some of them dated to the 18th century – see the Center for Jewish Art (CJA), item no. 34639 (Collection of Musée d'Art et d'Histoire du Judaïsme [mahJ], Paris); The Israel Museum Collection, item no. B39.11.6484; the René Braginsky Collection (formerly in the Furman Collection), scroll no. 94. Interestingly, unlike the three Esther scrolls mentioned above which are housed in polygonal silver cases, the present scroll is housed in a cylindrical silver case, a fact which sets it apart from other known Italian silver Esther scroll cases from that period. On spice containers from Rome surmounted by the emblematic ornament of a rampant lion grasping a palm frond, see: Sotheby's, June 5, 2019, item no. 123; Sotheby's, December 15, 2022, item no. 109; The Israel Museum Collection (appears on an Israeli postage stamp dated 1990 and titled [Hebrew] "Mo'adim 5755"). See also enclosed material.

Height of silver case (including handle and surmounting ornament): 27 cm. Overall good condition. Possibly missing a tiny handle originally part of the silver piece sewn onto the first membrane. Height of parchment: 8 cm. Good condition. Some stains to scroll, occasional spots of faded ink in text and faded paint in decorative rectangular frames.

Reference:
1. Daniela Di Castro and Filomena Del Regno, Arte ebraica a Roma e nel Lazio, Palombi, Rome, 1994, p. 104 (item no. 82), p. 154.
2. Jacobo Furman, Treasures of Jewish art: From the Jacobo and Asea Furman Collection of Judaica, Hugh Lauter Levin Associates, New York, 1997, pp. 210-11.
3. Doretta Davanzo Poli, Olga Melasecchi, and Amedeo Spagnoletto, eds., Antiche mappòt romane, il prezioso archivio tessile del Museo Ebraico di Roma, Campisano Editore, Rome, 2017, item no. 60.
Provenance: Private collection.