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LOT 114:
Most Sacred: Pair of Sefarim, Copies that Belonged to the Mahar"i Assad. [5] Signatures! Glosses in his Hand
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Most Sacred: Pair of Sefarim, Copies that Belonged to the Mahar"i Assad. [5] Signatures! Glosses in his Hand
Two important sefarim bound together with separate title pages: Shu"t HaRadba"z and Seder Mishneh. Both are first editions. Both title pages bear signatures by the G-dly and sacred Rabbi Yehudah Assad, leading tzaddik of Hungary and close friend of the Chatam Sofer's. Stories of his wonders and the miracles he enacted shook Hungarian Jewry already during his lifetime. Glosses appear along the length of both sefarim, at least some of which are in the Mahar"i Assad's script.
These are early signatures and glosses by the Mahar"i Assad, from his youth. There are other such early signatures, in which he explicitly signs his name in full, 'Ha"K Yehudah Assad.' The relatively large number of early signatures here determined the Mahar"i Assad's signature. However, in his later years he would often sign "Yehudassad" with the final 'א' of his first name, 'יהודא' becoming the first 'א' of his last name, אסאד. This embellishment was common among gedolei Yisrael, possibly to avoid writing the name יהודה' explicitly, as it resembles the Tetragrammaton.
Additional signatures: Three later signatures in purple ink on the title pages of both sefarim and the front flyleaf, by the gaon Rabbi Moshe Hertzfeld, av beit din of Salish Balahosh, and among the leading disciples of the Chatam Sofer and his son, the Ktav Sofer.
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* Sefer Shu"t HaRadba"z - Responsa by Rabbi David ben Zimra. Part III. First edition. Furth, Itzik Zirendorf V'Yetemai Chaim Press, 1781. [1], 58, 41-46, [2] leaf. Approximately 34 cm.
His signature appears at the top of the title page: "Bought by me, the youth Yehudah Assad." The leaf before the title page [the flyleaf] bears another two of his signatures on the inner side of the front binding, "the youth Yehudah Assad" for a total of [4] signatures in the penmanship of the Mahar"i Assad! Likewise, on the margins of the sheets along the sefer there are [14] glosses, at least some of which are apparently handwritten by the Mahar"i Assad himself.
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* Sefer Seder Mishneh al HaRamba"m, by Rabbi Binyamin Wolf Boskowitz, son of Rabbi Shmuel Kalin, author of Machatzit HaShekel. First edition. [Prague, 1820.] (This sefer is mentioned several times in the Mahar"i Assad's sefarim and responsa.) [3], 94 leaf. Approximately 34 cm.
The Mahar"i Assad's signature is displayed at the top the title page, cropped at the end: "HaK' Yehudah ..." The back flyleaf bears an ownership notation as follows: "HaK' Shmuel" - which may be his son, Rabbi Shmuel Aharon. Two glosses appear along the length of the book's leaves, possibly both in Mahar"i Assad's penmanship.
The last leaf features over 20 lengthy handwritten lines with comments on the sefer Seder Mishneh. It is not clear to us whether this is Rabbi Yehudah's handwriting. If so, this is an important Torah discovery!
On the back of the last page is a list of eleven babies for which the anonymous writer fulfilled the mitzvah of milah. The writer mentions his son Yisrael, who was born on 9 Tevet, 1821.
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Refer to the Hebrew catalog text for brief biographies of the mighty gaon Rabbi Yehudah Assad and the mighty gaon Rabbi Moshe Hertzfeld.
Overall fine condition. Stains and usage marks. Some of the paper is somewhat worn (characteristic of Furth presses). Light worming marks. The spine is partially lacking.
