Large and rare collection of poems and riddles for weddings and other special occasions, printed in Italy in the 17th and 18th centuries – including bibliographically unlisted leaves and leaves which are not known from any other source.
Poems composed by the Bassan family of Torah scholars
1. Wedding riddle in honor of Yaakov son of Moshe Sullam, and Bella daughter of Chaim Pollaco, by R. Mordechai son of Shmuel Chaim Bassan. Mantua, [Cheshvan 1696].
The ketubah of this couple is extant, written in Verona on 7 Cheshvan 1696; one of the witnesses who signed the ketubah was R. Mordechai son of Shmuel Bassan, author of the present poem (the ketubah is held in the Skirball museum collection, Los Angeles).
R. [Chizkiya] Mordechai son of R. Shmuel Bassan (d. Cheshvan 1703), rabbi of Verona, author of Pnei Yitzchak (Mantua 1744; published by his grandson R. Menachem Novarra the physician). His disciple was R. Yeshayahu Bassan.
Not in the NLI.
2. Wedding poem in honor of Yitzchak son of Shabtai Marini and Giuditta (Yehudit) daughter of Menachem d'Italia, by R. Yeshayahu Bassan. Mantua, [ca. 1724].
R. Yeshayahu Bassan (1673-1739), rabbi in Padua and later in Reggio, prime teacher of the Ramchal.
R. Yitzchak son of Shabtai Marini was a close friend of the Ramchal, and was one of the seven founding members of the society for the study of the Zohar established by the Ramchal. In honor of his wedding, the Ramchal composed two poems, one preserved in the handwriting of the Ramchal (Frankfurt am Main, Ms. Oct. 15), and printed several times; and a poem and riddle printed on a single leaf in Mantua (the second poem was published by A. Yaari in Kiryat Sefer, VIII, pp. 266-270).
A copy of the present poem is held in the National Library (previously from the Valmadonna collection; see: The Writing on the Wall: A Catalogue of Judaica Broadsides from the Valmadonna Trust Library, 2015, p. 151 no. 9).
3. Wedding poem in honor of the groom Yosef son of Shimshon Grego and the bride Chanah daughter of Pinchas HaKohen, by R. Shlomo son of R. Yisrael Bassan. [Verona, 18th century].
R. Shlomo Bassan (ca. 1670/1680 – after 1757), rabbi in Verona, presumably the brother of R. Yeshayahu Bassan.
A damaged copy is held in the NLI, lacking the upper part of the leaf with the preface and the full details of the couple.
4. Wedding riddle in honor of Yosef son of Shimshon Grego and the bride Chanah daughter of Pinchas HaKohen, by R. Shlomo son of R. Yisrael Bassan. [Verona, 18th century].
A copying of the poem appears in the aforementioned Leeds manuscript (listed by Pagis, p. 244, 257, based on this manuscript).
Not in the NLI.
Not in the NLI.
5. Poem in honor of the establishment of the Asiri society, by R. Shlomo son of Yisrael Bassan. [Verona, 18th century].
There is also a poem composed by R. Menachem Novarra in honor of this society, preserved in his handwriting in the Leeds University Library, Cecil Roth Ms. 102 (for more information about the Asiri society in Verona, see: Benayahu, Tikun Shivah BeAdar, in Tarbiz, year 48, Tishrei-Adar 1979, pp. 126-137).
Not in the NLI.
6. Poem composed upon the passing of R. Chizkiyahu Mordechai Bassan, rabbi of Livorno, and in honor of the establishment of the Talmud Torah, by R. Shlomo son of R. Yisrael Bassan. [Verona, 1704].
The preface mentions the date of passing of R. Chizkiyahu Mordechai Bassan – 8 Cheshvan 1703 (the leaf was presumably printed shortly after his passing). It also mentions R. Menashe Gentili (d. 1728), a rabbi in Verona (brother-in-law of R. Moshe Hagiz).
Not in the NLI.
7. Wedding poem in honor of the groom Yehoshua son of Yitzchak Recanati and the bride Esther Sarah daughter of Rafael Recanati, by R. Yisrael Binyamin Bassan. Livorno, 1746.
A splendid ketubah recording the marriage of this couple, held in Livorno on 13 Sivan 1746, is found in the Braginsky collection.
R. Yisrael Binyamin Bassan (1701-1790), son of R. Yeshayahu Bassan and colleague of the Ramchal. He succeeded his father as rabbi in Reggio.
There is a copy of the present riddle in the NLI, though damaged (open tears with loss, affecting name of author and other text).
The poem was reprinted by R. Avraham Baruch Piperno, Kol Ugav, Livorno 1846, pp. 3-7.
Poems composed by R. Menachem Novarra
8. Wedding riddle in honor of the groom Yekutiel son of Avraham Rimini and the bride Simcha daughter of Naftali Basevi, by R. Menachem son of R. Yitzchak Novarra. Verona, 1749.
R. Menachem Novarra the physician (1717-1777), rabbi in Verona, author of Yemei Temimim. He published Pnei Yitzchka (Mantua 1744), by his grandfather R. Chizkiyahu Mordechai Bassan. An autograph manuscript of his poems is held in the Leeds University Library, Cecil Roth Ms. 102; a copying of the present poem appears there on pp. 16-17 (listed by Pagis, A Secret Sealed, pp. 244, 249, based on that manuscript).
Not in the NLI.
9. Wedding riddle in honor of the groom Kalonymus son of Yitzchak Grego and the bride Malka daughter of Avraham Tzemach, by R. Menachem son of R. Yitzchak Novarra. [Verona, 18th century].
10. Mizmor LeTodah, poem in honor of the recovery of Empress Maria Theresa, by the physician R. Menachem Novarra. [Mantua, 18th century].
Not in the NLI.
Poems by various authors
11. Wedding poem in honor of the groom Benzion Rafael son of Yehuda Chaim, and the bride Rivka daughter of Yosef Chaim Chezighin of Casale, by R. Yitzchak Reggio. [Mantua?, 17th/18th century].
The author was presumably R. Yitzchak Reggio, rabbi in the yeshiva of the Remez in Mantua (see: Simonsohn, History of the Jews in the Duchy of Mantua, according to index of names).
Not in the NLI.
12. Wedding poem in honor of the groom Shlomo son of Kalonymus Sanguinetti of Modena, and the bride Miriam daughter of Yaakov Chaim Kohen (sister of Yisrael, Pinchas and Aharon Kohen), by R. Rafael Chaim son of R. Aviad Sar-Shalom Basilea. [Mantua, 18th century].
R. Refael Chaim Basilea (d. 1776), a Torah scholar in Mantua, editor and publisher of the book Minchat Shai (by R. Yedidia Shlomo Refael Norsa).
Not in the NLI.
13. Wedding poem in honor of the groom Yisrael son of Mordechai Bassan, and the bride Smeralda daughter of Avraham della Vida, by M.Tz. [=Mordechai Tzoref?]. [Mantua, 18th century].
Not in the NLI.
14. Wedding poem in honor of the groom Yisrael son of Mordechai Bassan, and the bride Smeralda daughter of Avraham della Vida, by Mordechai Tzoref. [Mantua, 18th century].
Not in the NLI.
15. Wedding riddle in honor of the groom Moshe Chaim son of Nechemia Katz and the bride Nechama daughter of Shmuel Menachem Katz, by Zerach Yaakov son of R. Rafael Naftali Katz. [Mantua, 18th century].
R. Zerach Yaakov Katz (d. 1794), a Mantuan Torah scholar. Extant in manuscript are a wedding poem he composed, from ca. 1780; a halachic responsum and work on Purim (his signature appears on ketubot from Mantua in 1778 and 1785).
Not in the NLI.
16. Wedding riddle in honor of the groom Yaakov son of Uri Chafetz of Venice, and the bride Sarah daughter of the physician Menachem Novarra of Verona, by R. Nathan son of R. Yitzchak Ashkenazi. Verona, 1770.
R. Rafael Nathan Ashkenazi (Tedesco; ca. 1750 – 1800), disciple of R. Yisrael Binyamin Bassan, a Torah scholar of Verona, later rabbi of Trieste.
Not in the NLI.
17. Wedding riddle in honor of the groom Yitzchak son of Kalonymus Novarra and the bride Esther daughter of Menachem Consiglio, by R. Shmuel son of R. Nathan Chaim Ashkenazi. [Verona?, 18th century].
We know of a Shmuel son of Nathan Ashkenazi who served as sandak for the son of his brother Mordechai in 1815 (A. Luzzatto, Registro delle circoncisioni di Yechiel Calabi – Verona 1806-1845, Asufot, II, p. 387, no. 49). The groom may have been the father of Menachem Novarra.
The poem is listed by Pagis, p. 242, 248, based on a copy of the leaf bound in JTS Library Ms. 9027.
18. Wedding poem in honor of the groom Shlomo son of Kalonymus Sanguinetti and the bride Miriam daughter of Yaakov Chaim Kohen, by R. Rafael Menachem son of R. Yehuda Mendola. [Mantua, 18th century].
R. Yehuda Mendola, rabbi in Padua, Rovigo and Mantua. In the pinkas of the Mantua community, there is a record of a stipend allotted to his widow and son Rafael Menachem (Simonsohn, History of the Jews in the Duchy of Mantua, II, p. 526 note 158).
Not in the NLI.
19. Poem in honor of Yaakov son of Avraham Yechiel Levi Polacco, who received his degree in medicine and philosophy, by R. Moshe Rafael son of R. Shmuel David Ottolenghi. [Verona, 1710].
Yaakov Levi Polacca is listed as a physician certified by the Padua university in 1710, see: A. Modena and E. Morpurgo, Medici e chirurghi ebrei dottorati e licenziati nell'Università di Padova dal 1617 al 1816, Bologna, Forni, 1967, p. 71 no. 177.
The NLI contains a damaged copy of this poem (previously from the Valmadonna collection; see: The Writing on the Wall: A Catalogue of Judaica Broadsides from the Valmadonna Trust Library, 2015, p. 167 no. 102). Another copy is bound in JTS Library, MS. 9027.

19 leaves of poems and riddles, large format (size varies). Overall good condition. Stains. Folding marks. Some margins trimmed (slightly affecting text in some places). Some attached together at margins.

Poems and riddles were commonly printed by Italian Jews for weddings and other occasions in the 17th and 18th century. Of special note are the riddles, generally presented at wedding parties to amuse and challenge the guests. The riddles where either handwritten or printed in a few copies, and mostly followed a standard format: a riddle in form of a sophisticated poem, surmounted by the riddle image. Many of the Italian Torah leaders wrote such riddles, including the Ramchal, R. Moshe Zacuto, and others. For more information about this phenomenon, see: Dan Pagis, A Sealed Secret – Hebrew Baroque Emblem-Riddles from Italy and Holland, Jerusalem, 1986.