Manuscript booklet, letter of R. Eliau Monteyro, addressed to R. Abraham de Joseph Teixeira de Mattos. [Amsterdam, ca. 1750]. Portuguese and some Hebrew.

Elegantly written letter in Portuguese, incorporating Hebrew verses, by R. Eliau Monteyro. The author praises the addressee for being a worthy descendant of his father, in line with the piety of the Teixeira de Mattos family – a distinguished and wealthy family of the Sephardic communities of Hamburg and Amsterdam. The first page is headed with a quote from Tehillim 112:2 – "The generation of the upright will be blessed" (header abbreviated on following pages).

High-quality paper with Dutch watermark (D & C Blauw), in new binding with original endpapers.

R. Eliau Monteyro (d. 1770) was the author of a range of manuscript works – sermons, eulogies and polemical works – including Emunat Chachamim, a defense of the Oral Law. In his Hebrew introduction to the work he explains: "I wrote this book out of distress and disturbance, just as Elijah was zealous for G-d… so too did I come today, taking sword and spear in hand to pursue the enemies of our Torah… Therefore I named this book Emunat Chachamim, and perhaps I will be assisted in the merit of Elijah" [p. 1a] (Etz Chaim Ms. 48 D 44). His manuscripts are extant at the Etz Chaim Library in Amsterdam, and at the Gaster Collection of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester.

Provenance: Mozes Heiman Gans collection, no. 9.

[3] leaves (5 written pages). With several blank leaves and endpapers. 23 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains, including light dampstains. Wear, tears and open tears to margins and endpapers, repaired with paper filling, slightly affecting text. Stickers and note on endpapers. New binding.

Bookplate of Mozes Heiman Gans.

We thank Prof. Harm den Boer, Basel, for his assistance in preparing this description.