Relazione curiosissima, ed insieme verissima del strano successo del preteso Messia degli Ebrei, il quale cagiono tanta commozione in quella Nazione, e termino poi farsi turco [A curious and at the same time true report of the surprising rise of the false messiah of the Jews…], by "Padre Beccaranda". Venice and Parma: Gozzi, [presumably, 1741 or 1742]. Italian.
A four-page booklet featuring a letter sent from Constantinople to Rome in order to announce Sabbatai Zevi's conversion to Islam.
This letter, which is considered one of the most important and earliest testimonies about Sabbatai Zevi's conversion, was presumably written as early as 1666 – several weeks after Sabbatai Zevi was imprisoned by the Ottoman authorities and converted to Islam. The letter, presumably distributed among the Jewish communities in an attempt to eradicate Sabbateanism, was printed in multiple editions throughout the 17th and 18th centuries (at least five editions were printed by 1667).
The author briefly introduces Sabbatai Zevi's history and then describes at length the events that led to his conversion to Islam. The author states that he was an eye-witness to the events in Constantinople (In the text there are several hints of the author's presence at the events narrated) and that he got his information regarding previous events from reliable people. The opening lines indicate that the letter was written in response to a question by another person, whose name is not mentioned ("I answer the question made to me by Your Lordship about what happened to the Jew, who had posed as the Messiah"). This edition was published without indication of date; presumably, it was published only in 1741 – approximately 75 years [!] after Sabbatai Zevi's convertion to Islam (possibly indicating that the struggle against the Sabbateans continued even in such a late period).
Although the author's full name is not indicated in any of the editions, this edition and some others mention the name "Padre Beccaranda", presumably referring to the Jesuit Jacques Becherand who lived in Constantinople between 1660 and 1667.
[1] leaf, folded in half (four printed pages), approx. 24.5 cm. (margins of varying width). Stains, fold lines and small tears. Open tears along edges and fold lines (small, slightly affecting text). Abrasions, slightly affecting text. Handwritten notation on top of the title page.
For additional information about this letter and its various editions, see: Between Information and Proselytism: Seventeenth-century Italian Texts on Sabbatai Zevi, by Stefano Villani (in Daat: A Journal of Jewish Philosophy & Kabbalah, issue 82, Ramat-Gan: Bar Ilan University, 2016).
From the estate of Prof. Shlomo Simonsohn.