Bidspirit auction | Autograph Manuscript. Milchemet Gur Aryeh

Autograph Manuscript. Milchemet Gur Aryeh – Collection of Responsa. Complete unpublished work. Lithuania–White Russia, 19th century. - Presented here is a unique manuscript containing an extensive collection of halachic responsa entitled Milchemet Gur Aryeh. This complete work, never brought to print, is the product of a distinguished Torah scholar and halachic authority active in the Lithuania–White Russia region during the nineteenth century. The identity of the author is revealed in an impressive opening poem arranged as an acrostic at the beginning of the volume, in which are embedded both his name—“Meir Aryeh”—and the title of the work, Milchemet Gur Aryeh. At the conclusion of one of the responsa appears his full signature: “Meir Aryeh ben Eliyahu.” The manuscript contains nearly forty lengthy and penetrating halachic responsa, written in an elegant and fluent Ashkenazic hand. Of particular interest is the manuscript’s halachic correspondence with the gaon Rabbi Avraham Simcha of Amtchislav, one of the notable scholars of his generation and nephew of Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin. This connection attests to the high scholarly standing of the author of Milchemet Gur Aryeh among the sages of his era. Throughout the leaves appear numerous corrections and additions inserted between the lines and in the margins (mahadura batra), demonstrating repeated review and refinement of the responsa over many years, evidently in preparation for publication. A manuscript of great importance, preserving the Torah output of an otherwise unknown nineteenth-century halachic authority whose work remained hidden from the scholarly world. [230] pages. Attractive script on thick paper. Original binding, professionally restored.