[JUDAICA - MANUSCRIPT]. Hebrew Liturgical Dictionary. [Italy...

Hammer

€11,000

[JUDAICA - MANUSCRIPT]. Hebrew Liturgical Dictionary. [Italy or southern Germany, late 16th century].
An interesting Hebrew manuscript dictionary, arranged alphabetically according to the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet and devoted to biblical and Talmudic concepts, liturgical terminology, sacred objects, prayers and ritual practices, with particular emphasis on Jewish festivals. Entries include Ein Sof, Qabbalah, Qedushah, the sounds of the Shofar, Tashlich, and the elements associated with Sukkot (Lulav, Etrog, Hadassim, Aravot). Of particular interest, on fol. 116v, are the signatures of three revisers involved in the ecclesiastical censorship of Hebrew books, including Domenico Irosolimitano and Giovanni Domenico Vistorini. The former, one of the most active censors of Hebrew texts between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, participated in the revision of Hebrew books in Mantua in 1595 and in the compilation of the Sefer ha-Zikkuk, a repertory of passages to be expurgated; one of his notes records a total of 29,011 works examined, including 4,311 manuscripts. Vistorini is documented as a reviser from at least 1609. The presence of several signatures bears witness to the successive campaigns of censorship to which the manuscript was subjected and provides important material evidence for the censorship and circulation of Hebrew texts in Italy between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

4to (200 × 150 mm). 119 leaves [116 + 3], probably lacking the title-page. Manuscript on thick laid paper, written in Hebrew cursive in black ink, 28 lines per page, with catchwords. Manuscript note on fol. 108v; fols. 110-111 reinforced (wormholes and extensive waterstaining, chiefly marginal, with frequent fading of the ink and some passages difficult to decipher, without affecting overall legibility). Contemporary reinforced pasteboard and half-vellum binding, lacking the spine. Provenance: Marquis Gherardo Molza of Modena, bookplate on front pastedown. (1)