Sacred Splendor: Judaica from the Arthur and Gitel Marx Collection
Sacred Splendor: Judaica from the Arthur and Gitel Marx Collection
MINHOGIM (YIDDISH CUSTUMAL), SIMEON HA-LEVI GÜNZBURG, AMSTERDAM: URI PHOEBUS BEN AARON HA-LEVI, 1662
Auction Closed
November 20, 08:47 PM GMT
Estimate
18,000 - 24,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
MINHOGIM (YIDDISH CUSTUMAL), SIMEON HA-LEVI GÜNZBURG, AMSTERDAM: URI PHOEBUS BEN AARON HA-LEVI, 1662
72 folios (7 x 5 5/8 in.; 177 x 142 mm) on paper. Title within elaborate architectural frame with scenes of the aftermath of the Golden Calf episode (right) and the capture of Dinah by Shechem (left); thirty-one beautiful full-size woodcut vignettes illustrating scenes from Jewish ritual life and practice (some of them repeats); twelve smaller woodcuts representing the twelve signs of the zodiac/labors of the months; decorative elements on ff. 19v, 31r, 69r. Scattered staining and dogearing; browned and thumbed; minor repairs periodically in outer edges; lower-outer corner of f. 8 repaired and upper-outer corner of f. 21 lacking; small repairs at foot of f. 30 and in lower-outer corner of f. [72], each affecting several words; small hole toward foot of f. 41; long tears on ff. 38-39, 45 repaired. Contemporary leather binding, scuffed, worn, rebacked, and partially repaired at outer corners; clasp on fore-edge lacking; title lettered in gilt on spine; modern paper flyleaves and pastedowns.
Uri Phoebus ben Aaron ha-Levi (1627-1715) was born into an Ashkenazic family with close connections to the Sephardic community of Amsterdam. In 1658, after working for at least a decade as a compositor for Immanuel Benveniste, he inherited a large sum of money from his wife’s grandfather and used it to open his own printing firm. His entrepreneurial spirit would gain him a reputation as a respected publisher in Amsterdam and, from 1691, in Żółkiew as well.
The present edition of Günzburg’s Minhogim constitutes a reprint of the 1645 issue published at the Menasseh-Aboab presses (see lot 78). The foliation, woodcuts, and mise-en-page are essentially the same, though different typefaces and ornaments have been used. In fact, the text on f. 68v cuts out in the middle of a discussion, because the publisher decided to condense the calendar included at the rear from seven leaves in the 1645 edition (69v-76r) to four leaves here (69r-[72v]) and thereby save himself a full quire. This Minhogim is adorned with an ornate title page featuring several references to Uri Phoebus’ Levitical pedigree, including depictions of Moses and Aaron, hand washing, and two battle scenes in which Levi or his descendants were intimately involved. The fish (Pisces) at the summit are symbolic of Adar, perhaps the month of Uri Phoebus’ birth.
Literature
Lajb Fuks and Renate G. Fuks-Mansfeld, Hebrew Typography in the Northern Netherlands[,] 1585-1815: Historical Evaluation and Descriptive Bibliography, vol. 2 (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1984), 253 (no. 296).
Mirjam Gutschow, Inventory of Yiddish Publications from the Netherlands[,] c. 1650-c. 1950 (Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2007), 21 (no. 44).
Chone Shmeruk, “Ha-iyyurim min ha-minhagim be-yidish, venetsyah [5]353/1593, be-hadpasot hozerot bi-defusei prag be-me’ah ha-17,” Studies in Bibliography and Booklore 15 (1984): 31-52, at p. 34 (no. 9).
Vinograd, Amsterdam 291