Letter Writing Formulae, Gershom ben Kalonymos Cohen, [17th century]

This collection of letters and formulae was compiled and arranged by Gershom ben Kalonymos Kohen. At the head of the manuscript is a collection of biblical verses and rabbinic statements, mainly to be used in polemics with Christians.

The manuscript also contains exchanged letters between Gershom ben Kalonymos Ka”tz of Azula from Padua and his family, and with others, spanning the years 1566 through 1603. One of the letters was sent to Menahem Azariah de Fano (fol. 84v). Gershom was the scribe of the Padua Jewish community from the year 1581–1585. (See D. Carpi, Pinkas vaad kehilat kodesh Padua, 1974, introduction) 

Other contents include: an exchange of letters regarding Jacob Reiner of Mantua; a letter on donations to Jerusalem (fol. 11v), published by A. David, in his book, Aliyah ve-Hityashvut be-Eretz Yisrael be-Meah ha-16, (1993), p. 225; a letter that mentions Joseph Nasi and his connection to the Polish crown, published by A. David in Kiryat Sefer, 64, (1992-1993), pp. 1109-1110. On the inside cover and front flyleaf are a note and table of contents, apparently by Moise Soave.

Sotheby’s is grateful to Menahem Schmelzer z”l and Benjamin Richler for cataloguing this manuscript.

Provenance

Solomon Halberstam (shelf no. 390)

Physical Description

97 leaves on paper (14 blank), 8 ¼ x 6 inches; 210 x 154 mm, written in Ashkenazi cursive script, modern foliation in pencil; some dampstaining, chiefly marginal, burn hole in fol. 16, library stamps on first and last pages. Eighteenth-century quarter mottled calf.

Literature

Hirschfeld (ms. no. 464); Halberstam, in Kohelet Shlomo, (1890), no. 390, provides a detailed list of contents; a description of this manuscript and many letters from it were published by Y. Boksenboim, Iggerot Yehude Italiya, (1994),pp. 48-53 and 284-345