Manuscript – Meorei Or by Maharam Poppers, with Yair Nativ commentary by R. Natan Nata Mannheim and R. Yaakov of Vilna. [Fez?, Morocco, 18th century].
Neat Western script. Full copying from printed edition (Frankfurt 1709).
On last leaf, "colophon" added by the person for whom the manuscript was copied, partially torn and lacking: "It was completed on Tuesday, 19th Av in the y[ear ---] by… David Tzarfati, who copied it form me for twelve coins per four leaves [---]… Reuven son of Yaakov Abensour" (calligraphic signature).
The signature here (and the person for whom the book was copied) appears to be R. Reuven Abensour, the son of R. Yaakov Abensour (the Yaavetz) who passed away at a young age, during his father's lifetime, in Salé in 1742. When news of his death reached Fez, his close friend R. Eliyahu HaTzarfati eulogized him in a homily appearing in R. Eliyahu HaTzarfati's Naar Bocheh (Jerusalem 2000, homily 22), "who died of plague in Salé, a father in wisdom though youthful in age; his age was about 25 years, my peer in Torah and mitzvot…". R. Eliyahu HaTzarfati later eulogized him once more (printed in Kol Eliyahu, Jerusalem 1996, p. 416).
At the beginning of the manuscript is the stamp of R. Refael Abensour the last, Rabbi of Fez.
[113] leaves. Several leaves bound out of order. 21 cm. Fair condition. Stains, including large, dark dampstains. Open tears and worming in many places, affecting text. Detached leaves and gatherings. New binding, with slipcase.
Provenance:
1. Abensour Family Collection, Fez, Morocco.
2. Victor Klagsbald Collection – Morocco, no. 8.
Reference: Victor Klagsbald, Catalogue des manuscrits marocains de la collection Klagsbald, Paris, 1980, p. 28.
