Bidspirit auction | Fascinating and Historical Manuscript A

Fascinating and Historical Manuscript A Satirical Composition on the Modesty Regulations of the Venice Jewish Community Italy, circa 1697 * Around the year 1697, due to fear of persecution by gentiles and concerns over immodesty, the heads of the ”General Council” in Venice issued a list of regulations. These were primarily aimed at curbing the use of luxury items, lavish clothing, and ornate jewelry among women. In response, a gifted yet anonymous Jewish writer of the time who viewed the ordinances as excessive, composed a full-length satirical work in protest, structured in the classic Talmudic format. At the center of each page appear dozens of the council’s decrees (translated from Italian), surrounded by parodic commentaries titled “Rashi, ” “Tosafos, ” and “Rulings of Rabbeinu Asher.” The work concludes with a separate section titled Chiddushim, featuring its own title page and bearing the name Maseches Simchos (“Tractate of Joy”). The composition is known as Maseches Adiyos (“Tractate of Adornments”), and opens with a Pesichta (preface) that explains the background of this satirical endeavor. It is dated at the end to the year “Derech Etz Chaim, ” corresponding to 5457 (1697), and the author signs cryptically: “Koli Alma Gemiri .” Another manuscript of  Maseches Adiyos is preserved in the Alliance Israélite Universelle Library in Paris (Ms. 196), but uniquely, the present copy also includes the additional section ”Maseches Simchos” which does not appear in the Paris manuscript! An exceptionally rare, engaging, and humorous polemical creation. Italy, 1697 or slightly thereafter. Page count: [41] written pages. Size: 22 cm. In good condition. Second title page detached; some light stains and minor tears. Original cardboard wrapper. Ironically, though the author expressed a degree of ridicule toward the community’s decrees, it is through this very parody that he preserved the community’s modesty regulations for future generations.