Auction 105 Books | Letters and Manuscripts | Esther Scrolls and Jewish Ceremonial Art
Poems for Hundredth Year Jubilee Festivities of the Altdorf University – Wilhermsdorf, 1723 – Especially Rare
Opening: $600
Sold for: $938
Including buyer's premium
Printed booklet (3 pages), poem in honor of the jubilee and of the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, in honor of the hundredth anniversary of the University of Altdorf (Altdorf bei Nürnberg), by Philipp Ernst Christfels. Wilhermsdorf: [Tzvi Hirsch son of Chaim], June 17, 1723.
Booklet with various poems, printed in honor of the hundredth anniversary of the University of Altdorf on June 29th (also the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul).
Includes two poems in praise of Nuremberg and Altdorf (with acrostic naming the cities), as well as another poem in honor of the theologian and Orientalist Gustav Georg Zeltner (1672-1738), who served at the time as professor in Altdorf, with the acrostic of his name (he was a close friend of Christfels and authored a foreword to the latter's book).
The University of Altdorf, in Altdorf bei Nürnberg (bordering Nuremberg), was established in 1575, but was only officially accorded university status in 1622. Its hundredth anniversary festivities were celebrated in 1723.
The author, Philipp Ernst Christfels (1671-1759), born Mordechai son of Moshe Shemaiah to a Jewish family in Neuhaus, Bavaria. Studied in the yeshiva of R. Avraham Brody (1650-1717), and apostatized to Christianity in 1701 in Wilhermsdorf. Authored several anti-Jewish theological tracts, and was an informant and libeler of the Jews.
[1] double leaf ([3] printed leaves). 34 cm. High-quality paper. Overall good condition. Light stains. Small marginal open tears.
Recorded in the Bibliography of the Hebrew Book based on a copy from a private collection. Not recorded in the NLI catalog or WorldCat (another extant copy is recorded in the Stadtbibliothek Nürnberg, see: Moshe N. Rosenfeld, Jewish Printing in Wilhermsdorf, London, 1995, no. 113, p. 125).
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