Auction 105 Books | Letters and Manuscripts | Esther Scrolls and Jewish Ceremonial Art
Minchat Kenaot – Jerusalem, 1879 – Controversy in Hebron Sephardic Community – Personal Copy of Moses Montefiore, With Three Signatures – Especially Rare Variant with Only First Gathering and Additional Title Page
Opening: $500
Sold for: $1,250
Including buyer's premium
Minchat Kenaot, polemical work on the controversy in the Sephardic Hebron community, by R. Avraham Penso, in defense of Rabbi of Hebron R. Eliyahu Mani. Jerusalem: [HaChavatzelet, 1879].
Copy of Sir Moses Montefiore, with three of his handwritten signatures (in English), the first on the front wrapper, the second at the beginning of the letter printed on the first leaf, and the third at the end of the last leaf with the author's print signature.
The controversy over tzedakah institutions in Hebron launched when Chief Rabbi Avraham Ashkenazi appointed R. Rachamim Franko as Rabbi of Hebron, and Mercado Romano (founder of Beit Romano) as member of the city council. R. Avraham Chaim Penso then had Minchat Kenaot printed in Jerusalem, attacking these appointments, along with sharp letters of other Jerusalem rabbis opposing the appointment of R. Franko (and firing of R. Eliyahu Mani). The rabbis of Hebron then published Dimat Ashukim in support of R. Avraham Ashkenazi.
[1], 26 pages (including original orange wrapper, with title cover). 16.5 cm. Dry, brittle paper. Fair-good condition. Stains. Wear. Small tears and open tears to wrapper and other leaves. New leather binding.
Exceptionally rare.
Sh. Halevy, no. 325. She records 126 pages, and notes that it was printed one gathering at a time, adding that A. M. Habermann's copy had 26 pages comprising the first gathering only. The present copy is identical to that one. The present copy has a title cover, and contains a short letter rather than the title page recorded in the NLI catalog.
Early Hebrew Books Printed in Jerusalem
Early Hebrew Books Printed in Jerusalem