Auction 77
Lot 5:
Small lithographic booklet without a title page: "Copying of the Igeret, when I passed through Bombay and saw a manuscript of Bnei Moshe and Bneu Gad and Bnei Reuven [the Ten Tribes] and to merit the many, I copied it… what happened with Bnei Moshe Rabbeinu to whom Bnei Hagolah sent… the sages of Jerusalem sent a Sha;i’ach named Rabbi [Baruch] Gad who came to raise funds as the custom of the Shluchim and sent them to Jerusalem…" According to A. Yaari (הדפוס העברי בארצות המזרח, section II, pp. 60-61, no. 40; שליחים מארץ ישראל לעשרת השבטים – Sinai, VI, 1940 p. 478) printed in Bombay apparently in 1886. 16; 16 pp. Approx. 15.5 cm. In a contemporary cardboard binding. Stains and some tears along the edges. Good overall condition.
An extremely rare booklet, which has never been auctioned online. The booklet contains a copying of Igeret Asseret Hashevatim in Hebrew and Judeo-Arabic by the copyist Rabbi Yitzchak Halevi – Shadar of Tiberous who traveled to India and in Bombay printed several books including this booklet. The booklet describes the Shadar’s meeting with the members of the Ten Tribes, their customs and way of life. By contemporary custom, "and so as not to leave blank paper", the author added 3 poems and Piyyutim, 2 of them by Rabbi Saasson ben Rabbi Mordechai Shendoch: [1] ברוך בא בשם ה’, שבת קודש מאור עיני, a poem for Sabbath; [2] אל קומם סוכתך נופלת. The third Piyyut is signed Siman Avraham Chazak: [3] אשיר שירים לאל בביאת הגואל.
Lithography – is a method of printing text or images originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. Early Indian printeries used this method alongside the development of Hebrew printing. Indian lithographs are considered extremely rare since originally, their editions were limited and when Hebrew printing became common, this method of printing was no longer used.
Varied notations including an ownership signature: "הצעיר מנשה אברהם ח"ר אליעזר יצ"ו".
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