[Prayers for the time of plague]; [תפילות לזמן מגיפות]

Contributor:

Donati, Yosef Tsemaḥ Gavriʼel (dedicatee)

Timespan:

18th century; 19th century

Date:

1775

Description:

This is a miniature manuscript of prayers for the time of plague on parchment; the prayers consist of selections from the Psalms (XLI, XX, XXXVIII) and verse repetition (Genesis XVIII:6, XLIII:11) and the "Parashat ha-Ḳeṭoret" (the Biblical and Talmudic passages detailing the creation of the incense in the Temple; the invocation of the incense used as a spiritual protection from plague is likely based on the Zohar (Ṿa-yeḥi 419)), completing on f. 9r; additional verses from Numbers (XVII:11-13), and the concluding prayer (f. 10r-11r), and miscellanea (f. 11r-12v). A Shiviti amulet was begun but not finished (f. 13r; folios 14-16 blank); large Shiviti text written in calligraphy (f. 1r).

Language:

Hebrew

Provenance:

Formerly owned by Tel Aviv collector William L. Gross (Kedem); former call number The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, IT.012.003.; Sold by Kedem Auctions (Jerusalem), Sale 92 lot 68 (as part of selections from the Gross Family Collection).; Gross, William L., former owner.

Relation:

The Rare Judaica Acquisitions Fund Home Page: http://hdl.library.upenn.edu/1017.12/1229058

Subject:

Plague -- Italy -- 18th century; Plague -- Italy -- 19th century; Plague -- Religious aspects -- Judaism; Jews -- Italy -- 18th century -- History -- Sources; Jews -- Italy -- 19th century -- History -- Sources

Form/Genre:

manuscripts (documents); codices (bound manuscripts); calligraphy (visual works); Miniature books; Manuscripts, European

Physical Description:

16 leaves : parchment; 92 x 65 (82 x 61) mm bound to 95 x 70 mm.

Rights:

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/

Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Rare Judaica Acquisitions Fund.; Ms. codex.; Hebrew.; Title supplied by cataloger.; Collation: Parchment, 16; 1¹⁶; modern foliation in pencil, lower left recto, 1-16.; Layout: Written in columns of 13-14 lines; pricking at outer margins of text column; catchwords; lead ruling for Menorah-style Shiviti (f. 13r).; Script: Written in a Italian square script, possibly in two different hands; instructions written in a Sephardic semicursive script; Shiviti text written in an Italian calligraphy (f. 1r).; Binding: Contemporary leather on pasteboard, with blind-tooling (frame, inner lines, and asterisms).

Physical Location:

Library at the Katz Center, Rare Book Manuscripts, CAJS Rar Ms 656

Collection:

Rare Judaica Acquisitions Fund