Special and Rare Items
Dec 26, 2017 (Your local time)
Israel
 מוסד הרב קוק, הרב מימון 1, ירושלים
The auction has ended

LOT 8:

Bible - Amsterdam 1701 - the "Goral Hagra" Edition

Sold for: $1,300
Start price:
$ 500
Estimated price:
$1000-1500
Auction house commission: 20%
VAT: On commission only
tags:

Torah, Nevi'im and Ketuvim. Amsterdam 1701. Pocket edition.
Three title pages, the first is a copper-etched illustration of Moses and Aharon and the Holy of Holies. The second title page is in Hebrew and the third in Latin.
At the beginning of section A, a Latin preface by Georgius Desmarests. At its end, a Hebrew poem. On the page after the preface, an additional poem and another long Hebrew poem praising the Torah and its learners by Jon Henricus Lederlin.
Nice printing. The fonts are clear and sharp. Not-vowelized. The title page is decorated with various decorations and they appear also at the end of Melachim and Divrei Ha'Yamim.
At the end of the book, a table of the Parashot and Haftarot as well as the Kri and Ketiv and all missing and surplus words.

Goral Hagra (The Casting of Lots of the Vilna Gaon)
The edition before us is of special significance. Rabbi Aryeh Levin used this edition of the bible for using Goral Hagra, which he used for identifying the bodies of the Convoy of 35 (The Lamed He).
The journalist Yitzchak Deutsch described the extraordinary event: "It was Thursday night. We went up to the Yeshiva which was located at the attic of the small, modest house of Rabbi Aryeh in one of the neighborhoods of Jerusalem. Twelve candles were lit in the dark room and they shone of the eastern wall beside which the Holy Ark was located. As is customary, when conducting the Goral Hagra, a bible whose leaves are divided into two columns is used. Rabbi Aryeh had an ancient bible that was printed in Amsterdam in 1701. The leaves of the book were yellow with age yet almost all of them were complete and where they were torn, they were glued with transparent scotch tape …"
310 pp.
Condition: Excellent. The title pages are perfect, including the illustrated one. New binding.