Novellae on the Talmud. Anonymous

It appears that this folio ledger was originally intended as a Pinkas of a communal synagogue, for at the top of each page are listed the names of members of the congregation. However, at a certain point in time, the owner decided to make other use of the volume - as a notebook of Halachic novellae on the Talmud and Codes. On f.19v. (original pagination), an entry reads "Eizik Forman mi-Telz" [Isaac Forman of Telz]. We may pinpoint Lithuania as the country in which the ledger was composed. Indeed, at the bottom of f.18v. (original pagination), the conclusion to a legal responsum reads: "Ve-hiskim la-zeh gam ha-rav ha-g[aon] de-Pikelin" [The Rabbi of Pikelin also agreed to this]. The Rabbi of Pikelin (Lith. Pikeliai) during this period was R. Jacob Vilentzik, author "Dalthei Teshuvah" on Yoreh De'ah (see Otzar ha-Rabbanim 9604; Friedberg D-834; S.N. Gottlieb, Ohalei Shem, p.155). The Author datelines a few of the entries: "Erev Shabbath Kodesh, Matoth, 5643 [1883], Yellok" (f.20v. new pagination); "5641 [1881], Yellok" (f.63v. original pagination). In 1912 the Rabbi of Illok (Yiddish Yellok) in the region of Telz (Lith. Telsiai), government of Kovno, was R. Shmuel Ya'akov Rabinowitz (see Gottlieb, Ohalei Shem, pp. 94-95). On f.34r. (new pagination), the Author differs with an opinion of the "Rabbi of Shad." This would have been R. Aaron Walkin (see Ohalei Shem, p. 201), who went on to become later the celebrated Rabbi of Pinsk, author responsa "Zekan Aaharon." It is possible that Rabbi S.Y. Rabinowitz is truly the author of these novellae, but as they were composed a full generation earlier, we cannot rule out the possibility that they were written by Rabinowitz's predecessor in the rabbinate of Yellok (Lith. Ylakiai) - whoever that may have been.