54 119 (INDIA). Eichah VeKinoth [Books of Lamentations, with elegies for the Fast of the Ninth of Av]. For use by the Jews of Cochin. Manuscript in brown ink on lined paper. Two columns, vocalized square Hebrew with translation alongside into Malayalam (Malabari). THE DAVID SOLOMON SASSOON COPY. See D.S. Sassoon, Ohel Dawid: Catalogue of the Sassoon Library (1932) Vol. I p. 32, no. 444. ff. (1), 62, (1). Sassoon Library red boards. 4to. (Cochin), 19th century. $4000 - $6000 ❧ The Biblical book of Lamentations and accompanying Kinot (elegies) to be recited on the Ninth day of Av, in commemoration of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. The Kinot section comprises twenty-three elegies, including works by Judah HaLevi and Moses ibn Ezra, according to the rite of the Indian Jewish community of Cochin, (today, Kochi, district of Ernakulam, state of Kerala). No published version of this translation exists. Few manuscripts are extant that are written in Hebrew and Malayalam, the local dialect of the miniscule community of Cochini Jews. Judeo-Malayalam is the only known Dravidian Jewish language. Cochin, a delightful town located at the southern tip of India, has had a Jewish presence for millennia, with roots that are said to extend back to the time of King Solomon. PROVENANCE: Sotheby’s New York, Hebrew Manuscripts from the Collection of the Late David Solomon Sassoon, 4th December, 1984, Lot 35. 120 (GERMANY). Letter of Protection and Safe Conduct for the Jew Hertz Meyer, residing in the village of Frille (today part of Petershagen / Bückeburg, North Rhine-Westphalia). January 1, 1730. * AND: Letter concerning renewal of the Letter of Protection for Hertz Meier/Meyer. Bückeburg, June 22, 1731. German calligraphic hand on paper, signed. Each: Two leaves with attached embossed stamps. Folio. (Bückeburg, principality of Schaumburg-Lippe, today Lower Saxony), 1730/31. $1000 - $1500 ❧ This Letter of Protection for one Hertz Meyer was issued for the duration of half a year, upon payment of a fee to the Duke of the tiny principality of Schaumburg-Lippe located in Northern Germany. The ensuing letter written by ducal civil servants, leaves the renewal of this Letter of Protection to the discretion of the Duke. It is estimated that some 200 Jews lived in the principality of Schaumburg-Lippe during the 17th- and 18th- centuries. About a dozen Jewish families lived in Petershagen and associated villages around 1730. The principality of Schaumburg- Lippe was notable for its dynasty of Court Jews founded by Isaak Heine, who received a Letter of Protection in 1682 and was an ancestor of the poet Heinrich Heine. See Hans-Heinrich Hasselmeier, Die Stellung der Juden in Schaumburg- Lippe von 1648 bis zur Emanzipation (Bückeburg, 1967). — Ma n u s c r i p t s & Au t o g r a p h Le t t e r s —