Auction 102 Part 1 Hebrew Manuscripts and Books from the Victor (Avigdor) Klagsbald Collection
Set of machzorim for High Holidays. Part I: Seder Ashmurot, Selichot for Elul and ten days of repentance, "according to the rite of the Carpentras, L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue and Cavaillon community"; Part II, Rosh Hashanah service, and Part III, Yom Kippur service, "according to the rite of the Avignon community", edited by R. Avraham Montel. Amsterdam: Hertz Levi Rofe and his son-in-law Kosman, 1763-1766.
Two volumes (Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur parts bound together), in original leather bindings (non-uniform).
Gilt inscriptions on both sides of second volume (first name very faded): "Moyse Bellone de Carcassonne".
In some copies of Seder HaAshmurot, including the present copy, the title page reads "according to the rite of the Carpentras, L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue and Cavaillon community" instead of "according to the rite of the Avignon community"; apart from this, the two editions are entirely identical (on the differences between the selichot rites of Carpentras and Avignon, see: Zunz, Rites of Synagogue Liturgy, Breuer-Fraenkel Hebrew translation, Jerusalem, 2016, pp. 137-138, 291-294).
The Carpentras prayer and piyyut rites are unique to the southeast French community. Its text was copied in manuscript machzorim for community members until the local scribes were unable to meet the demand. At that point a young local Torah scholar named R. Avraham son of Shmuel de Monteux (Montel) began to print the unique Carpentras prayer rite.
On the background to the publication and the work of the publisher Avraham son of Shmuel de Monteux (here called Montel), see: Sh. Schwartzfuchs, Documents on the Printing of "Mahzor Karpentrats", Alei Sefer, VI-VII, 1979, pp. 145-147 (Hebrew).
Two volumes. Volume I (Selichot): 82 leaves. Volume II (Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur): 60, 65-68; 88 leaves. Lacking last leaf of Yom Kippur part. 23.5-24.5 cm. Overall good condition. Stains. Small tears to several leaves. Original leather bindings (non-uniform). Wear and damage to bindings (open tears to spine and corners of second volume).
Zedner, p. 456; C. Roth, The Liturgy of Avignon and the Comtat Venaissin, in: Journal of Jewish Bibliography (1939), pp. 102-103.
Machzor set for High Holidays and Three Festivals, according to the Sephardic rite of Constantinople and other locations. Vienna: Anton Schmidt, 1836. Three volumes.
Fine set in original leather bindings, with gilt decorations. On front of bindings, gilt inscriptions of owner's name in Hebrew: "Nissim di Salomon Kamondo", and the year "5599" (1839). On back side of bindings, gilt inscriptions in Latin type: "Nissim di Salomon Kamondo", with secular date "1839".
This machzor set belonged to the banker Nissim Camondo (1830-1889), son of the wealthy Shlomo Refael (son of Avraham) Camondo of Constantinople, who acted on behalf of the Jews and represented them before the Ottoman authorities. When these machzorim were made, Nissim was about nine years old. He later moved with his family to Paris and was active there. M.D. Gaon (Yehudei HaMizrach BeEretz Yisrael, II, Jerusalem 1938, pp. 595-596) calls him "one of the noblest of Jews in the former Turkish capital; he was admired in the European royal courts who granted him many dignities. King Victor Emmanuel of Italy bestowed upon him the rank of count, and as a result of his extensive donations on behalf of orphans of the war, his portrait was displayed as a memorial in several official institutions. He participated in every good and beneficial project, was a shield for his fellow Jews, and was universally resplendent in his charitable deeds…" (see further on him in Grayevsky, Zikaron LaChovevim HaRishonim, XV).
The Camondo family, of Spanish-Portuguese descent, was famous for its great wealth and far-reaching activities for Jews in the Ottoman expanse. By the early 19th century, the Camondo family had staked out a portion of the banking and real-estate businesses in the Ottoman Empire. They enjoyed close ties with the Sultan's court and lent money to fund imperial projects, for which they were granted a special permit to purchase lands in the Empire. The Camondo family was considered one of the richest and most prominent Jewish families in the Ottoman Empire, renowned for its great wealth, banking, real-estate business and philanthropy. The family also helped found Jewish educational institutions, were involved in the Jewish settlement in Eretz Israel and established beautiful buildings (such as the Camondo palace, Kamondo Sarayı, located on the Golden Horn in Istanbul). In 1867, the family relocated to Paris, where the Nissim de Camondo Museum (named after a grandson of the owner of the present machzor set) operates to this day. The mausoleum of the family is located in the Hasköy cemetery, Istanbul.
The Nissim de Camondo Museum in Paris displays two machzorim, for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, from the same edition, bound identically and produced the same year, with the inscribed name of Nissim's father: "Shlomo Avraham Camondo".
Three volumes. Rosh Hashanah: 142 leaves. Yom Kippur: 241 leaves. Three Festivals: 204 leaves. 19 cm. Gilt edges. Good condition. Stains. Original leather bindings, with fine gilt decorations. Damage to bindings.
Zemirot Yisrael, Chants Religieux des Israëlites, Contenant la Liturgie complète de la Synagogue des temps les plus reculés jusqu'à nos jours [Religious songs of the Israelites, containing the complete synagogue liturgy from antiquity until our times], Part I, with Shabbat prayers, by Samuel Naumbourg. Paris: published by the author, [1847]. First edition.
Volume comprised of two parts. The first part of the volume is composed of Part I of Zemirot Yisrael (printed lithographically; lacking leaves in several places), with musical notation for the Shabbat prayers, according to the order of synagogue prayer.
The second part of the volume comprises many handwritten leaves (approx. 50 leaves), with additional musical notation for prayers for Shabbat, festivals and various occasions. These leaves include tunes composed by the editor of the book, Samuel Naumbourg, and many tunes by other composers (F. Hellmann, Sulzer, Lovy, Halevy and others). Some of the tunes are composed for multiple vocalists or for a choir. The name of the composer is indicated at the beginning of each tune.
The words of the songs, written along with the tunes, appear both in the printed and handwritten sections of the volume, in Hebrew transliterated into French. The song titles are printed in Hebrew.
On p. 177, tune for a wedding, for multiple vocalists.
At the beginning of the volume is printed a lengthy introduction in French by the editor, regarding the history of Jewish music.
On the last leaf appears a (partial) handwritten index to the tunes appearing in both parts.
Samuel Naumbourg (1817-1880) was a French-Jewish composer, cantor and musicologist, a native of Dennenlohe (Bavaria). Born to a long line of cantors, Naumbourg was given a musical education from a young age. He studied in Munich, where he joined a synagogal choir. He later served as a cantor in Besançon, and directed a choir in the Strasbourg synagogue. In 1845 he was invited to serve as cantor of Synagogue Nazareth in Paris. He later studied Jewish liturgy in depth, publishing several studies of Jewish music and anthologies of Jewish tunes, chief among them being the present work (which was printed in several editions over the years).
First part of volume, printed: [3], iv, [1] leaves, 70, 77-110 pages. Lacking leaf with portrait of author, originally appearing after title page. Lacking pp. 71-76, and two leaves at end (pp. 111-112, [1]). Between pp. 70 and 77 is bound [1] leaf, handwritten. Second part of volume, handwritten: 111-141, [5], 143-164, 167-168, 171-173, [2], 174-218, [2] pages (mispagination). Lacking pp. 169-170. Several leaves and pages blank. 30.5 cm. Fair condition. Stains; many stains and dark stains to some leaves. Wear. Many tears and open tears (large open tears in several places), affecting text in many places, partially repaired with paper. On several leaves, rubbing from separating of joined leaves, affecting text. New leather binding.