(Rogue scholar. 1860-1924). Autograph Letter Signed, in Hebrew, to Baron David Guenzburg, requesting financial assistance in publishing his commentary to the Jerusalem Talmud. Written in a florid (pseudo)-Sephardic hand

AUCTION 50 | Thursday, February 24th, 2011 at 1:00
Fine Judaica: Hebrew Printed Books, Manuscripts, Graphic & Ceremonial Art Including: The Alfonso Cassuto Collection of Iberian Art

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Lot 228
FRIEDLANDER, SHLOMO YEHUDAH ALGAZI

(Rogue scholar. 1860-1924). Autograph Letter Signed, in Hebrew, to Baron David Guenzburg, requesting financial assistance in publishing his commentary to the Jerusalem Talmud. Written in a florid (pseudo)-Sephardic hand

One page. Folded

Satmar: 9th Iyar 1906

Est: $400 - $600
PRICE REALIZED $350
One of the most colorful characters in the rogue's gallery of Rabbinic literature is undoubtedly the man who called himself "Solomon Judah Algazi Friedlander." This unlikely figure arrived in Hungary at the turn of the 20th-century, presenting himself as a Sephardic Jew from the Orient, who had made a startling discovery: A manuscript containing the long-lost Jerusalem Talmud on the Order of Kodashim. Although initially greeted with great enthusiasm, soon enough doubts began to arise as to the authenticity of the work, and aspersions were cast on the moral character of the enigmatic Herr Friedlander