“ASHER BEN YECHIEL” (RO”SH) (Pseudo). Besamim Rosh [responsa]

AUCTION 15 | Tuesday, March 12th, 2002 at 1:00

Fine Hebrew Books, Manuscripts and Works of Art The Property of Various Owners

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Lot 87

(BERLIN, SAUL)

“ASHER BEN YECHIEL” (RO”SH) (Pseudo). Besamim Rosh [responsa]

FIRST EDITION ff. (4),110, (5). Few light stains in places, generally a clean copy. Later roan-backed boards, gently rubbed at extremities, upper cover all but detached. Folio Vinograd, Berlin 416

Berlin: The Chinuch Ne’arim Press 1793

Est: $400 - $600

PRICE REALIZED $450

Saul Berlin maintained he had copied the 392 responsa recorded here from an Italian manuscript purported to be by the RO”SH, with Berlin only adding notes. However, the content was of a surprisingly liberal tendency, bordering on antinomianism. The suspicion that the entire work was fictitious and Berlin’s purpose was merely to foment dissension was widely vocalized. A campaign seeking to brand Berlin an atheist was refuted by his father, R. Tzvi Hirsch Berlin, who attempted to vouchsafe the integrity of the manuscript