Toldot Gedolei Yisrael in Italy – Trieste, 1853 – Copy with Handwritten Additions of Rabbi Shmuel Yitzchak Finzi of ...

Toldot Gedolei Yisrael in Italy – Trieste, 1853 – Copy with Handwritten Additions of Rabbi Shmuel Yitzchak Finzi of Ferrara – Copy of Rabbi Chaviv Toledano – Glosses and Additions of Prof. E. S. Hartom

Toldot Gedolei Yisrael UGeonei Italia by R. Mordechai Shmuel Ghirondi, with Zecher Tzadikim Livrachah by R. Chananel Neppi. Trieste: Marenigh, 1853. Only edition.
This book is composed of two works: a biographical work on Italian rabbis by R. Chananel Neppi, edited and expanded by R. Mordechai Shmuel Ghirondi; and an independent work by R. Ghirondi.

At the beginning of the present copy are bound four leaves (6 pages) handwritten by R. Shmuel Yitzchak Finzi, a posek in Ferrara, disciple of R. Neppi and the first copyist of Zecher Tzadikim Livrachah. The present leaves contain a foreword authored by R. Finzi to his teacher's work, as well as a foreword to Toldot Gedolei Yisrael containing a eulogy for R. Ghirondi. The next pages contain addenda to Zecher Tzadikim Livrachah, and the last leaf contains a poem authored by R. Finzi in honor of the book.

R. Finzi's first foreword appears in another extant manuscript of Zecher Tzadikim Livrachah, with slight variants (which appear to indicate that the present version is the later of the two), as well as the same addenda also containing variants. The poem in honor of the book was also copied by R. Finzi in an extant manuscript anthology of his poems. The second foreword in the present item is not known from any other source.

The present copy belonged to R. Chaviv son of R. Eliezer Toledano (born 1800), a rabbi of Meknes who immigrated to Livorno. His signature (in Latin script) appears on the binding and title page, as well as a few glosses in his handwriting, one mentioning a book he published (Derech Emunah, Livorno 1838) and two sharply attacking R. Shmuel David Luzzatto. Interestingly, R. Ghirondi dedicated an entry in his book to R. Chaviv Toledano, citing R. Chaviv's introduction to the abovementioned work, which contains a detailed genealogy of the Toledano family.

The present copy was later in the possession of R. Prof. Eliyah Shmuel Hartom (1887-1965), a rabbi and educator in Ferrara and other Italian cities, and author of the Cassuto commentary on the Bible. Prof. Hartom added glosses and notes to the book, and many leaves are included along with the book, containing handwritten notes by R. Hartom, referenced by notations in the book (in pencil). These leaves contain additions and glosses from a manuscript of Zecher Tzadikim Livrachah examined by R. Hartom in Ferrara in 1913-1914, which were published by R. Hartom in the Memorial Volume for Shlomo Sally Meir, Jerusalem 1956; however, the present leaves contain several glosses and additions that were not printed there.

376 pages. 21 cm. Good condition. Some stains. Original binding, with some damage. + [4] leaves handwritten by R. Shmuel Yitzchak Finzi + approx. 25 leaves and paper scraps handwritten by R. Hartom. Overall good-fair condition.