Auction 107 Rare Printed Books, Manuscripts, and Autograph Letters
By Kestenbaum & Company
Sep 19, 2024
The Brooklyn Navy Yard Building 77, 141 Flushing Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11205, United States

Auction of Judaica focusing on printed books and handwritten documents and other manuscripts. Divided into categories as follows:


 Religious Hebrew books take up the first third of the auction. Highlights are: The first edition of two parts of the Shulchan Aruch (Venice, 1565, Lots 37 and 38) a large fragment of the Tanach Constantinople, 1522 (lot 5); and several Zhitomir / Slavita imprints. 


 Also appearing are Rabbinic manuscripts and letters from such luminaries as Yehuda Aszod (lot 57); Avraham Azulai (lot 73); Reuven ibn Yahya (lot 78); Moshe Provencal (lot 87); Ya’akov Toledano (lot 90), etc.


The personal silver Kiddush cup of the Ribnitzer Rebbe (lot 56) will of course attract much attention.


 The sale highlight is lot 94: An exceptional illuminated manuscript that has never before appeared at public auction. A Passover Hagadah created by the celebrated artistic-scribe Eliezer Sussman Mezeritsch, Frankfurt, 1833.


 The next section (lots 108-178) represents Judaica stemming from across the globe, including Australia, Brazil, China, the German-speaking lands, Gibraltar, Poland, Russia, etc. Also included is much on Holy Land travel, the Land of Israel and Zionism.


 The section of Antisemitica / Holocaust includes an exceptional illuminated manuscript (lot 208) devoted to the Polish Jews of Częstochowa. Also of importance is a recently uncovered diary from 1945 of a young Hungarian Jewess who survived Auschwitz (lot 205); and a large archive of personal documents of a German-Jewish doctor who spent the years 1939-47 in Shanghai.


 General Judaica (lots 209-245) includes the first edition of Bartolocci’s first ever bibliography of Hebrew books (Rome, 1675, lot 209); a unique copy of the Edgardo Mortara’s autobiography, personally signed by him (lot 226); and the first edition of one of the rarest works of Spanish-Jewish literature, Moses Almosnino’s Extremos y Grandezas de Constantinopla (Madrid, 1638, lot 231).


 The penultimate section of the sale (lot 241-267) are illustrated books and graphic art including several fine books from the magnificent hand of Arthur Szyk, including two original drawings by him (lots 258, 259).


 The final section of the sale are fine books that stem from the library of the late Charles Wuorinen, being English & Continental Early Printed Books (lots 268-291).


 Utilize the Search-bar to locate books of any specificity. 

For any and all inquiries relating to bidding please contact Shaya Kestenbaum: jack@kestenbaum.net.

More details
The auction has ended

LOT 2:

AZULAI, CHAIM YOSEPH DAVID - (Chid’a).

Shem HaGedolim. ...

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Sold for: $2,400
Start price:
$ 1,000
Estimated price :
$2,000 - $3,000
Buyer's Premium: 25%
sales tax: 8.875% On the full lot's price and commission
Auction took place on Sep 19, 2024 at Kestenbaum & Company
tags:

AZULAI, CHAIM YOSEPH DAVID - (Chid’a).


Shem HaGedolim. * With: Va’ad Lechachim. Together, three volumes.


* Vol. I: Shem HaGedolim, Part one. Second edition, with new additions. ff. (2), 144.

Livorno, 1786.

* Vol. II: Shem HaGedolim, Part two. First edition. ff. 104. Livorno, 1798.

* Vol. III: Va’ad LeChachamim. First edition. ff. 54, 72. Livorno, 1796. Lightly browned.

Occasional marginalia, signatures. Formerly in the collection of Dayan Casriel Dovid Kaplan.

Uniform 19th-century sheep-backed boards. 4to.

Vinograd, Livorno 233, 413, 449.


During his travels through Europe as a Shadar, the Chid'a visited countless Jewish homes as well as Europe's most outstanding libraries, taking note of the various books he consulted. From his bibliographical observations, he published two separate works, ‘Shem Hagedolim’ with the names of the authors and ‘Va’ad Lechachamim’ with the titles of the books.


The Shem Hagedolim is regarded as the most important compendium of Hebrew bio-bibliographical literature, providing us with insight towards the bookshelves of Jews and non-Jews in the 18th century.


“This treatise has established for Azulai a lasting place in Jewish literature. It contains data that might otherwise have been lost.” (JE vol. II, p. 376).


For more, see: https://www.genazym.com/auction/620-grand-winter-event/lot-81-19/


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