Basel, Universitätsbibliothek, Cod. AN IX 4
Dr. Justine Isserles, chercheure associée, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes-Saprat (Paris), 2019.
Titre du manuscrit: Sefer Nizzaḥon (ספר נצחון) or the Basel Nizzaḥon
Origine: Ashkenaz
Période: 2nd half of the 15th century
Support: Vellum. Medium to good quality: natural cuts in the vellum on the edges of the folios (e.g. ff. 1, 20, 42, 57); holes (e.g. ff. 25, 27, 44, 58, 68-69); stiches (e.g. ff. 62, 68, 74). Hair and flesh sides not distinguishable.
Volume:
III + 84 + III
Format: 210 x 154-163 mm
Numérotation des pages: Old pagination in brown ink, from 1 to 19 in the top corners of the pages, going from right to left. Modern foliotation in Arabic numerals in grey pencil (ff.1 to 84), going from right to left and are located in the top left-hand corner of each folio. The flyleaves at the beginning and end of the volume are signalled as I-III and IV-VI, also written in grey pencil and located in the top left corner of each flyleaf.
Composition des cahiers: Quires: 13 quires composed of 2 ternions, 1 bifolio, 1 folio 1 quinion and 8 quaternions.
I ternion (1r-6v); II quaternion (7r-14v); III bifolio (15r/v)*; IV folio (16r/v); V quinion (17r-26v); VI ternion (27r-32v); VII quaternion (33r-40v); VIII quaternion (41r-48v); IX quaternion (49r-56v); X quaternion (57r-64v) ; XI quaternion (65r-72v) ; XII quaternion (73r-80v) ; XIII quaternion (81r-84v)*2.
The quires have been numbered in brown ink in Arabic numerals (16th c. hand), located in the bottom margin and going from 2 to 12. The first quire was numbered in Roman numerals.
- *: There is a stub between folios 15v and 16r.
- *2: This lacunary quaternion contains many stubs, between folios 81v-82r; 82v-83r; 83v-84r; -flyleaf IV.
The quires have been numbered in brown ink in Arabic numerals (16th c. hand), located in the bottom margin and going from 2 to 12. The first quire was numbered in Roman numerals.
Etat: Well preserved manuscript, except for folios 1-13, which are heavily stained and darkened (from use and humidity: full page stains, ff. 1-6 and bottom margin corner stains, ff. 7-13) and whose parchment has folds on several folios (e.g. ff. 7, 12-18, 23, 38, 49, 81) and minor tares (ff. 2, 41). The rest of the manuscript has some humidity stains (e.g. ff. 30v-31r, 32v-33r, 48v, 53r, 59r, 63r, 82v), a green coloured stain extending between folios 24v and 26r and a few ink stains (e.g. ff. 4v-5r, 30v, 34r, 52v-53r). Two unidentified stains on folios 59r and 62v.The ink in the initial words has been partially erased on folios 28r, 30v and 31v.The lateral margins were cropped to fit a now disappeared 16th century binding on wooden boards covered by Latin manuscript fragments, of which only the fragments remain, stuck onto limp cardboard boards. The lateral margin cropping was not always straight: e.g. ff. 42, 43, 44, 46, 49, 50-51, 75.
Mise en page:
Ruling:
There is brown pencil ruling throughout the manuscript.
Some quires have different justification grids. The end of lines is respected by elongation and compression of letters, as well as graphic fillers. Full page layout throughout the whole manuscript. Inner and outer indentations around the initial words.
- Folios 1r-16v: 25 traced lines for 24 written lines.
- Folios 17r-26v: 20 traced lines for 18-20 written lines.
- Folios 27r-40v: 30 traced lines for 20-24-28 written lines.
- Folios 41r-84r: 24-25 traced lines for 23-25 written lines.
Some quires have different justification grids. The end of lines is respected by elongation and compression of letters, as well as graphic fillers. Full page layout throughout the whole manuscript. Inner and outer indentations around the initial words.
Type d'écritures et copistes:
Ashkenazic square and bookhand script. The bookhand script is of medium module throughout the manuscript. The script of the initial words varies between a square (ff. 1r-38v) of very large module throughout the manuscript) and a late gothic ‘brisé’ bookhand (ff. 9v, 39r-83r) (very large module: e.g. ff. 48r/v and a large module: e.g. ff. 12r, 40v, 41r).
One scribe copied the text of this manuscript. It is also worth observing the change in writing style of this scribe. He begins copying out his main text, between folios 1r-9r, with a compact and neat bookhand ‘brisé’ gothic script and slowly transitions, between folios 9v-13v, to a more rounded and spacious bookhand script (probably due to a change of writing instrument) and continuing in this style of writing to the end of the manuscript. The colour of the ink varies between light brown and dark brown ink. Furthermore, the script of the initial words changes from square (ff. 1r-38v) to bookhand (ff. 39r-83r), with the exception of folios 12r and 15r, which already use a larger bookhand script for initial words. The turning point in the change of scripts for initial words is located between folios 38v and 39r.
The left margin of folio 1r contains a gloss, probably written by the scribe of the manuscript (see a similar style of his writing e.g. f. 45r). Several other marginal glosses on folios 2r, 22r, 30v, 37v and 41r are clearly by the scribe of the manuscript.
The scribe has also numbered each chapter in Hebrew in the lateral margins from א (1) to קלח (138) in parts I and II of the work, and from א (1) to מז (47) in part III of the work. However, the chapters have been inconsistently numbered (see omitted number added by later hands under ‘later additions’).
One scribe copied the text of this manuscript. It is also worth observing the change in writing style of this scribe. He begins copying out his main text, between folios 1r-9r, with a compact and neat bookhand ‘brisé’ gothic script and slowly transitions, between folios 9v-13v, to a more rounded and spacious bookhand script (probably due to a change of writing instrument) and continuing in this style of writing to the end of the manuscript. The colour of the ink varies between light brown and dark brown ink. Furthermore, the script of the initial words changes from square (ff. 1r-38v) to bookhand (ff. 39r-83r), with the exception of folios 12r and 15r, which already use a larger bookhand script for initial words. The turning point in the change of scripts for initial words is located between folios 38v and 39r.
The left margin of folio 1r contains a gloss, probably written by the scribe of the manuscript (see a similar style of his writing e.g. f. 45r). Several other marginal glosses on folios 2r, 22r, 30v, 37v and 41r are clearly by the scribe of the manuscript.
The scribe has also numbered each chapter in Hebrew in the lateral margins from א (1) to קלח (138) in parts I and II of the work, and from א (1) to מז (47) in part III of the work. However, the chapters have been inconsistently numbered (see omitted number added by later hands under ‘later additions’).
Décoration:
- Folio 3v: two sets of words in the lateral margin have been framed by an open square and surmounted by some decorative dots in the shape of a triangle as well as three fleurs de lys.
- Folio 5r/v: three sets of words in the lateral margin have been surmounted by a triangle, containing a trilobed flower. At the top of the triangle sits a fleur de lys.
- Folio 8v: number framed and surmounted by a fleur de lys.
- The other decorations consist of a series of dots surmounting the chapter numbers in the lateral margin as well as the catchwords.
Ajouts: There are several later additions by Christian Hebraists, in Hebrew and Latin:
- The notes in dark brown ink and perhaps red ink, whether in Hebrew or Latin, can possibly be identified as those of Johann Buxtorf (?), when comparing with his signature on flyleaf III: e.g. ff. 1r, 1v, 2r, 2v, 3r, 4r, 5r, 6r, 51v, 62v-63r, 68v -70v -71r, 75v (numbering of chapter),78r, 80v, 82v-83r, 84r.
e.g. Folio 1r: Extension of the descenders of the letters in the initial word in dark brown ink and small corrections in the text in red ink as well as the biblical reference Abdias 18, in Latin in red and black ink, situated above the first line of text. In the top margin of this folio is the following note in Hebrew: לא אל כי נהרוג. Lastly, in the bottom margin of this folio can be found the word Nizzaḥon in vocalized Hebrew (נצחון).
Folio 6r: top margin, written in a dark brown ink:
Transcription: ספר נצחון שחבר הה' מהרר' אליעזר זצ''ל נקרא ליפמן
Translation: Book of Nizzaḥon of which the author is the Rabbi our Master the Rabbi Eliezer, may his Just memory be blessed, who is named Lipman. - Latin notes in light brown ink (perhaps the hand of Samuel Hortin, when comparing with his signature on flyleaf III): e.g. ff. 4v, 9r, 41r, 62r, 64r, 68v-69r, 70v, 74v-75r, 76r, 77v.
- Hebrew and Latin notes in reddish light brown ink: e.g. ff. 9v-10r, 52r.
Reliure:
16th century limp parchment binding (227 x 160 mm). The binding was restored by Albert Bauer in 1941 (see paper sticker on pastedown at the end of the volume: Einband repariert durch Buchbinder Albert Bauer 1941). The parchment used for the binding is composed of Latin manuscript fragments of a 13th century illuminated medical glossary covering the boards, and a 15th century liturgical manuscript covering the spine. Traces of 2 pairs of ties on the inner boards. The paper pastedowns and flyleaves I-III /IV-VI bear a watermark with an emblem of a crowned eagle with the initials HHI (see flyleaves IV and VI), standing for the bookbinder Hans Hippocras, who was active in Bern in the 1540s and 1550s. (see Ad. Fluri, “ Der Buchführer Hans Hyppocras”, Neuen Berner Taschenbuch (1896), vol. 2, pp. 203-253- esp. pp. 204; 250-253). Therefore, the preserved flyleaves with watermarks attest to the binding of this manuscript in Bern during the mid-16th century. On the top part of the spine is a brown paper sticker with the following shelfmark of the manuscript written in black ink: A.N.IX.4.
[Regarding the initials HHI standing for Hans Hippocras ON the watermarked paper of the flyleaves I-VI, Prijs (Die hebräischen Handschriften in der Schweiz, p. 43) suggests that the initials are HIH and stand for Hans Jakob Hüssler, who was apparently active in 1585. He refers to the article by Fluri, mentioned above, giving the page reference of p. 230. After verification, neither is the name Hans J. Hüssler nor the date of 1585 mentioned anywhere in the article. Consequently, after having read the whole article, it seems that the watermarked initials are HHI rather than HIH, standing for Hans Hippocras, whose name and period of activity is briefly described on pages 204; 250-253 of Fluri’s article.]
[Regarding the initials HHI standing for Hans Hippocras ON the watermarked paper of the flyleaves I-VI, Prijs (Die hebräischen Handschriften in der Schweiz, p. 43) suggests that the initials are HIH and stand for Hans Jakob Hüssler, who was apparently active in 1585. He refers to the article by Fluri, mentioned above, giving the page reference of p. 230. After verification, neither is the name Hans J. Hüssler nor the date of 1585 mentioned anywhere in the article. Consequently, after having read the whole article, it seems that the watermarked initials are HHI rather than HIH, standing for Hans Hippocras, whose name and period of activity is briefly described on pages 204; 250-253 of Fluri’s article.]
Sommaire:
The corpus of Christian works directed against Judaism since late Antiquity is considerable, whereas anti-Christian works by Jews only appear from the 12th century onwards in Franco-Germany and Christian Spain, reflecting the historical period in which they developed. The first extant critique of the Christian doctrine by a European Jew is the Milḥamot ha-Shem, a work written in 1170 by a Spanish polemicist named Jacob ben Reuben (12th c.), who knew enough Latin to translate long passages of the Book of Mathew into Hebrew (Trautner-Kromann, p. 49; Freudenthal, 2016). However, other polemical works (see extensive list of polemical works in Trautner-Kromann, pp. 8, 49-184), such as Milḥemet Mitsvah (1245-1270) by Meir ben Simon of Narbonne (S. France, mid-13th c.), Sefer Joseph ha-Meqaneh (1260) by Joseph ben Nathan Official (N. France, c. 1210-1280), and the Sefer Nizzaḥon Yashan, anonymous (Franco-Germany, end-13th- early 14th c.) reflect a more intimate knowledge of all the Gospels and other books of the New Testament (Berger, pp. 30-31).
The work named Sefer Nizzaḥon Yashan or Sefer Nizzaḥon Vetus, translated as the Old Book of Polemics (nizzaḥon literally means ‘victory’, figuratively, ‘confutation’) is an anonymous anthology of arguments against the Christological interpretation of a wide variety of Biblical verses, supplemented by virulent judgments on the Gospels and Christian doctrines and morals. Composed in Franco-Germany circa 1300, some of these confutations are the anonymous author’s own, but most are based on polemical themes and criticisms of Christian faith which were disseminated in Jewish circles in medieval Ashkenaz and northern France. There are some vernacular words in Judeo-French (e.g. Ms AN IX 4, f. 36r: אינמי/einemi: enemy) and Old West Yiddish (e.g. Ms AN IX 4, f. 36r:תופא/ Taufe: baptism) which have been found in this work and bear witness to the undefined language boundaries in the medieval Rhineland or northern France (Champagne, Alsace-Lorraine), where this work was evidently compiled (see more vernacular words in Trauner-Kromann, p. 102). There are also many passages which parallel texts from Rashi’s biblical commentaries or stem directly from sources found in the earlier works mentioned above. There are particularly numerous quotations from the Sefer Joseph ha-Meqaneh, which can be considered one of the sources of the Sefer Nizzaḥon Yashan (Trautner-Kromann, p. 102, 104). [It is noteworthy to add that a manuscript housed in the Staatbibliothek of Hamburg, Ms Hamburg 80, f. 50r, which contains a copy of the Sefer Joseph ha-Meqaneh, bears a marginal note with the name Sefer Nizzaḥon; see Steinschneider, 1878, p. 71, n°187 and Horbury, p. 250, note 13.]
The Sefer Nizzaḥon Yashan was edited by J. C. Wagenseil in his Tela Ignea Satanae (Altdorf: 1681). The work has the epithet yashan (‘old’) to differentiate it with the later and well-known collection of polemical texts called the Sefer ha-Nizzaḥon by Lippmann Mülhausen (15th c.), edited in Nuremberg by Theodor Hackspan (1607-1659) in 1644, under the title Iber Nizzachon R. Lipmanni editus. Acc. Tractatus de usu librorum Rabbinicorum. There is another edition of a Sefer Nizzaḥon by Wilhelm Schickard (1592-1635), entitled Nizzaḥon beli Netsaḥ sive Triumphator Vapulans (Tübingen: 1624), which is based on another manuscript (which is unknown today) (Horbury, p. 251). However, during the early 17th century, an error circulated on the attribution of our Sefer Nizzaḥon (which we will call the Basel Nizzaḥon hereafter) as the Sefer ha-Nizzaḥon by Yom Tov Lipmann Mülhausen. This falsehood is located in the description of the manuscript in the 2nd edition by Buxtorf ‘The Younger’ of the aforementioned De Abbreviaturis Hebraicis...Item Biblioteca Rabbinica of 1640) and originates from the preface of Schickard’s edition, printed in 1624 (and 2nd ed.1628), who confused both works, by referring to the Basel Nizzaḥon (the manuscript he borrowed from Buxtorf ‘The Elder’) as Lippman’s Nizzaḥon (Horbury, p. 251). Thankfully in 1644, when Hackspan’s edition of Lipmann’s Nizzaḥon was published, this enabled the Christian Hebraists to identify the Basel Nizzaḥon, owned by the Buxtorfs, as a different work, but still considered it as a copy of a Nizzaḥon work (Horbury, pp. 249-252).
Moreover, a later addition is found in the top margin of folio 6r of the Basel Nizzaḥon, written in a dark brown ink: Book of Nizzaḥon of which the author is the Rabbi our Master the Rabbi Eliezer, may his Just memory be blessed, who is named Lipman (ספר נצחון שחבר הה' מהרר' אליעזר זצ''ל נקרא ליפמן), is further proof of the wrong attribution given to the Basel Nizzaḥon. According to Horbury (p. 251), it is noteworthy to mention that although the author of the most famous Nizzaḥon is identified today as Yom Tov Lipman Mülhausen, the name Eliezer was often given in the Lipman family and Judah Kaufman (p. 14, note 17 and 26) has suggested that the grandfather and son of the author were named Eliezer. From this note, the view that this Lipman was named Eliezer can then be better understood in the circumstances just described. Thus, the marginal note combines the mistaken identification of the work as Lipmann’s with the erroneous designation of the particular Lipmann who wrote the Nizzaḥon work in question.
There are few extant manuscripts and editions of the Sefer Nizzaḥon Yashan (hereafter S.N.Y.) even though none of them has the complete correct and original text. Two critical editions of this text were made, one by Mordechai Breuer in 1978, who used less manuscript sources and the other, by David Berger in 1979. The following texts were used for David Berger’s critical edition of this work (Berger, pp. 373-380):
1. J. C. Wagenseil, Tela Ignea Satanae (Altdorf, 1681), based on a lost manuscript from Strasbourg, Bibliothèque nationale et universitaire de Strasbourg, whose shelfmark is also presently lost) and reflects the most complete rendering of the S.N.Y. (Berger siglum ‘T’). [Two further extant manuscripts are dependent on Wagenseil’s edition: Paris, Alliance israélite universelle, Ms 222 (Berger siglum ‘P’) and New York, Jewish Theological Seminary, Ms 47 (Amsterdam,1699) (Berger siglum ‘N’). Furthermore, Adolph Posnanski prepared an edition of S.N.Y. on the basis of manuscripts ‘T’, ‘P’ and ‘R’, which remained unpublished. This edition is also partially based on Wagenseil’s edition (Trautner-Kromann, p. 104).]
2. Munich, Staatsbibliothek, Ms n°147 (see Steinschneider, 1895, p. 83) (Berger siglum ‘M’). with the exception of ‘T’, this is a relatively complete version of the S.N.Y, with 40% of the work, but when collated with Wagenseil’s edition, it yields a good text (Trautner-Kromann, p. 103).
3. Rome, Vittorio Emanuele Library, Ms BN Centrale Or. 53 (part three of the ms) (see di Capua, p. 46, n°8) (Berger siglum ‘R’). [Breuer used manuscripts ‘M’, ‘R’ with Wagenseil’s and Posnanski’s editions for his critical edition.]
Additionally, as mentioned above, many quotations from the Sefer Joseph ha-Meqaneh are found in the S.N.Y., whose three surviving manuscripts (see critical edition of this work by J. Rosenthal in 1970), Berger also used in his critical edition (Berger, pp. 379-380). Lastly, Berger used various passages from the S.N.Y. in two printed works of the 16th century by the celebrated Christian Hebraist, Sebastian Münster (1488-1552) (Berger, p. 377).
What then is the relation of our Basel Nizzaḥon with these manuscripts? Unfortunately, neither Berger nor Breuer were aware of the Basel manuscript and only a preliminary impression is given by Horbury (pp. 252-260), who compares 34 relevant folios of the Basel Nizzaḥon with the manuscript of the S.N.Y. which resembles it the most, containing similarities in content and form. This manuscript is Rome, Vittorio Emanuele Library, Ms BN Centrale Or. 53 (‘R’). Although the Basel Nizzaḥon needs to be more precisely assessed, Horbury’s conclusions (p. 260) suggest that the Basel Nizzaḥon is a fuller manuscript than ‘R’ and offers some better readings but that it is mostly an independent composition. Thus, the Basel Nizzaḥon should be preliminarily considered as an ‘indirect witness’ to the Sefer Nizzaḥon Yashan but nevertheless, of great importance in the study of medieval Jewish-Christian controversy.
The work named Sefer Nizzaḥon Yashan or Sefer Nizzaḥon Vetus, translated as the Old Book of Polemics (nizzaḥon literally means ‘victory’, figuratively, ‘confutation’) is an anonymous anthology of arguments against the Christological interpretation of a wide variety of Biblical verses, supplemented by virulent judgments on the Gospels and Christian doctrines and morals. Composed in Franco-Germany circa 1300, some of these confutations are the anonymous author’s own, but most are based on polemical themes and criticisms of Christian faith which were disseminated in Jewish circles in medieval Ashkenaz and northern France. There are some vernacular words in Judeo-French (e.g. Ms AN IX 4, f. 36r: אינמי/einemi: enemy) and Old West Yiddish (e.g. Ms AN IX 4, f. 36r:תופא/ Taufe: baptism) which have been found in this work and bear witness to the undefined language boundaries in the medieval Rhineland or northern France (Champagne, Alsace-Lorraine), where this work was evidently compiled (see more vernacular words in Trauner-Kromann, p. 102). There are also many passages which parallel texts from Rashi’s biblical commentaries or stem directly from sources found in the earlier works mentioned above. There are particularly numerous quotations from the Sefer Joseph ha-Meqaneh, which can be considered one of the sources of the Sefer Nizzaḥon Yashan (Trautner-Kromann, p. 102, 104). [It is noteworthy to add that a manuscript housed in the Staatbibliothek of Hamburg, Ms Hamburg 80, f. 50r, which contains a copy of the Sefer Joseph ha-Meqaneh, bears a marginal note with the name Sefer Nizzaḥon; see Steinschneider, 1878, p. 71, n°187 and Horbury, p. 250, note 13.]
The Sefer Nizzaḥon Yashan was edited by J. C. Wagenseil in his Tela Ignea Satanae (Altdorf: 1681). The work has the epithet yashan (‘old’) to differentiate it with the later and well-known collection of polemical texts called the Sefer ha-Nizzaḥon by Lippmann Mülhausen (15th c.), edited in Nuremberg by Theodor Hackspan (1607-1659) in 1644, under the title Iber Nizzachon R. Lipmanni editus. Acc. Tractatus de usu librorum Rabbinicorum. There is another edition of a Sefer Nizzaḥon by Wilhelm Schickard (1592-1635), entitled Nizzaḥon beli Netsaḥ sive Triumphator Vapulans (Tübingen: 1624), which is based on another manuscript (which is unknown today) (Horbury, p. 251). However, during the early 17th century, an error circulated on the attribution of our Sefer Nizzaḥon (which we will call the Basel Nizzaḥon hereafter) as the Sefer ha-Nizzaḥon by Yom Tov Lipmann Mülhausen. This falsehood is located in the description of the manuscript in the 2nd edition by Buxtorf ‘The Younger’ of the aforementioned De Abbreviaturis Hebraicis...Item Biblioteca Rabbinica of 1640) and originates from the preface of Schickard’s edition, printed in 1624 (and 2nd ed.1628), who confused both works, by referring to the Basel Nizzaḥon (the manuscript he borrowed from Buxtorf ‘The Elder’) as Lippman’s Nizzaḥon (Horbury, p. 251). Thankfully in 1644, when Hackspan’s edition of Lipmann’s Nizzaḥon was published, this enabled the Christian Hebraists to identify the Basel Nizzaḥon, owned by the Buxtorfs, as a different work, but still considered it as a copy of a Nizzaḥon work (Horbury, pp. 249-252).
Moreover, a later addition is found in the top margin of folio 6r of the Basel Nizzaḥon, written in a dark brown ink: Book of Nizzaḥon of which the author is the Rabbi our Master the Rabbi Eliezer, may his Just memory be blessed, who is named Lipman (ספר נצחון שחבר הה' מהרר' אליעזר זצ''ל נקרא ליפמן), is further proof of the wrong attribution given to the Basel Nizzaḥon. According to Horbury (p. 251), it is noteworthy to mention that although the author of the most famous Nizzaḥon is identified today as Yom Tov Lipman Mülhausen, the name Eliezer was often given in the Lipman family and Judah Kaufman (p. 14, note 17 and 26) has suggested that the grandfather and son of the author were named Eliezer. From this note, the view that this Lipman was named Eliezer can then be better understood in the circumstances just described. Thus, the marginal note combines the mistaken identification of the work as Lipmann’s with the erroneous designation of the particular Lipmann who wrote the Nizzaḥon work in question.
There are few extant manuscripts and editions of the Sefer Nizzaḥon Yashan (hereafter S.N.Y.) even though none of them has the complete correct and original text. Two critical editions of this text were made, one by Mordechai Breuer in 1978, who used less manuscript sources and the other, by David Berger in 1979. The following texts were used for David Berger’s critical edition of this work (Berger, pp. 373-380):
1. J. C. Wagenseil, Tela Ignea Satanae (Altdorf, 1681), based on a lost manuscript from Strasbourg, Bibliothèque nationale et universitaire de Strasbourg, whose shelfmark is also presently lost) and reflects the most complete rendering of the S.N.Y. (Berger siglum ‘T’). [Two further extant manuscripts are dependent on Wagenseil’s edition: Paris, Alliance israélite universelle, Ms 222 (Berger siglum ‘P’) and New York, Jewish Theological Seminary, Ms 47 (Amsterdam,1699) (Berger siglum ‘N’). Furthermore, Adolph Posnanski prepared an edition of S.N.Y. on the basis of manuscripts ‘T’, ‘P’ and ‘R’, which remained unpublished. This edition is also partially based on Wagenseil’s edition (Trautner-Kromann, p. 104).]
2. Munich, Staatsbibliothek, Ms n°147 (see Steinschneider, 1895, p. 83) (Berger siglum ‘M’). with the exception of ‘T’, this is a relatively complete version of the S.N.Y, with 40% of the work, but when collated with Wagenseil’s edition, it yields a good text (Trautner-Kromann, p. 103).
3. Rome, Vittorio Emanuele Library, Ms BN Centrale Or. 53 (part three of the ms) (see di Capua, p. 46, n°8) (Berger siglum ‘R’). [Breuer used manuscripts ‘M’, ‘R’ with Wagenseil’s and Posnanski’s editions for his critical edition.]
Additionally, as mentioned above, many quotations from the Sefer Joseph ha-Meqaneh are found in the S.N.Y., whose three surviving manuscripts (see critical edition of this work by J. Rosenthal in 1970), Berger also used in his critical edition (Berger, pp. 379-380). Lastly, Berger used various passages from the S.N.Y. in two printed works of the 16th century by the celebrated Christian Hebraist, Sebastian Münster (1488-1552) (Berger, p. 377).
What then is the relation of our Basel Nizzaḥon with these manuscripts? Unfortunately, neither Berger nor Breuer were aware of the Basel manuscript and only a preliminary impression is given by Horbury (pp. 252-260), who compares 34 relevant folios of the Basel Nizzaḥon with the manuscript of the S.N.Y. which resembles it the most, containing similarities in content and form. This manuscript is Rome, Vittorio Emanuele Library, Ms BN Centrale Or. 53 (‘R’). Although the Basel Nizzaḥon needs to be more precisely assessed, Horbury’s conclusions (p. 260) suggest that the Basel Nizzaḥon is a fuller manuscript than ‘R’ and offers some better readings but that it is mostly an independent composition. Thus, the Basel Nizzaḥon should be preliminarily considered as an ‘indirect witness’ to the Sefer Nizzaḥon Yashan but nevertheless, of great importance in the study of medieval Jewish-Christian controversy.
- Lacunary in the beginning.
- ff. 1r-16v : Chapters 1 to 24 refer to polemical interpretations of the Books of Psalms and Prophets.
- ff. 17r-64r : Chapters 25 to 138 refer to polemical interpretations on the Pentateuch and on the Book of Joshua, beginning with the title: אתחיל לכתוב החומש: I will start to write the Ḥumash.
- f. 64v : Blank page.
- ff. 65r-84r : Chapters 1 to 47 refer to the Gospels and to the Christian doctrine, beginning with the title: הוי שקוד ללמוד תורה כדי שתשיב לאפיקורוס: Be assiduous in the study of the Torah to know what to answer to the heretic.
- f. 84v : Blank page.
Provenance du manuscrit:
- The provenance of this manuscript is attested by two owner’s notes, inscribed on the verso of flyleaf III of the manuscript. It was previously in Samuel Hortin’s (1589-1652) possession, a collector and librarian of the Burgerbibliothek of Bern. However, this manuscript is not included in the list of Hebrew manuscripts donated by Hortin in 1634 to this library (see his catalogue Clavis bibliothecae Bongarsianae MDCXXXIIII (Bern: 1634), pp. 80c-80d), revealing that the manuscript had already been acquired by Johan Buxtorf ‘The Elder’ (1564-1629), sometime before or during the year 1623, date at which he signed and dated his inscription in the top margin of the manuscript, below Samuel Hortin’s signature. Buxtorf ‘The Elder’ also wrote the title of the work in Latin which was later struck out (see below under owner’s notes). This manuscript, along with several others, was included in the elder Buxtorf’s De Abbreviaturis Hebraicis...Item Biblioteca Rabbinica (2nd ed. issued by J. Buxtorf, Fil., Basel, 1640) and would have entered the Basel University Library in 1705 (see Horbury, p. 246; Burnett, p. 159). Moreover, unattested by an owner’s note, the manuscript was lent by Buxtorf ‘The Elder’ to Willelmus Schikhardus (Schickard) (1592-1635), who acknowledged the loan in the preface of his edition entitled Nizzaḥon beli Netsaḥ sive Triumphator Vapulans (Tübingen: 1624), on a similar polemical work entitled Nizzaḥon. The last line of the paragraph on this flyleaf reveals that this manuscript was owned by the Calvinist theologian Immanuel Tremellius (c.1510-1580) and that he brought it from Italy (see also Austin, p. 40, notes 8-9, p. 41; note 10).
Comparing the scripts, it appears that the hand which wrote the Latin note on flyleaf III verso (transcribed and explained by William Horbury, pp. 248-249) below the dated signature and title of the work could be that of Johan Buxtorf ‘The Elder’. Alternatively, Horbury attempts to identify Johann Buxtorf ‘the Younger’ (1599-1664) or his son Jacob Buxtorf (1645-1704), as the author of this note (ibid., p. 249). As for the numerous Hebrew and Latin annotations within the margins of the pages, it can be assumed that they were authored by either two or three generations of the Buxtorfs. - Owner’s notes in the manuscript:
Flyleaf III, verso : Two signatures and a note by Christian Hebraists.
- 1st line, signature in brown ink: Samuel Hortini K.
- 2nd line, signature in dark brown ink, thicker writing instrument: Johannis Buxtorfi 1623, followed by the struck-out title Objectiones Judaeorum ex Veteri et novo Testamentis.
- 3rd and 4th line, barred out text in dark brown ink.
- 4th to 23rd lines: text in Latin in dark brown ink, same as that of the signature on the 2nd line above.
- Folio 84v: Two notes in Hebrew:
- Note 1, in light brown ink:
Transcription: אמר להם ישו והלא
Translation: Yeshu said to them is it not so? - Note 2, below note 1, in dark brown ink:
Transcription:
עצת רשעים רחקה מני:
There is a spelling mistake in the word מני which should be spelled ממני, meaning ‘from me’.
Translation: The counsel of the wicked be distanced from me.
Acquisition du manuscrit: Folios 1r and 84v: Round purple stamp of the Basel University Library, containing the name UNIVERSITÄTS-BIBLIOTHEK BASEL, surrounding the emblem of the city.
Pastedown at the end of the volume with the shelfmark of the manuscript written in grey pencil: A N IX 4. Small printed word in purple above the shelfmark, also on the same pastedown: catalog.
Pastedown at the end of the volume with the shelfmark of the manuscript written in grey pencil: A N IX 4. Small printed word in purple above the shelfmark, also on the same pastedown: catalog.
Manuscript catalogues:
- S. Hortin, Clavis bibliothecae Bongarsianae MDCXXXIIII (Bern: 1634), pp. 80c-80d.
- J. Prijs, Die Handschriften der Universitätsbibliothek Basel. Die hebraïschen Handschriften. Katalog auf Grund der Beschreibungen von Joseph Prijs redigiert von Bernhard und David Prijs mit einem Anhang von Stephen G. Burnett und einem Beitrag von Thomas Willi (Basel: 1994), pp. 54-55 [Manuscript catalogue, vol. 2, Nr. 31, pp. 109-118].
Printed catalogues and secondary literature:
- K. Austin, From Judaism to Calvisnim: The Life and Writings of Immanuel Tremellius (c.1510-1580) (Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2007).
- D. Berger (ed.), The Jewish-Christian Debate in the High Middle Ages. A Critical Edition of the Nizzahon Vetus with an Introduction, Translation and Commentary (Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1979), esp. pp. 32-37; 373-382.
- Ph. Bobichon, Controverse judéo-chrétienne en Ashkenaz (XIIIe siècle) (Turnhout : Brepols, 2016).
- M. Breuer (ed.), Sefer Nizzaḥon Yashan (Nizzaḥon Vetus). A Book of Jewish-Christian Polemic (Jerusalem: 1978).
- S. G. Burnett, From Christian Hebraism to Jewish Studies: Johannes Buxtorf I (1564-1629) and Hebrew Learning in the Seventeenth Century, Studies in the History of Christian Thought, vol. 68. (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1996).
- S. G. Burnett, Christian Hebraism in the Reformation Era (1500-1660): Authors, Books, and the Transmission of Jewish Learning, Library of the Written Word, vol. 19 (Brill: Leiden–Boston 2012).
- J. Buxtorf I, De Abbreviaturis Hebraicis...Item Biblioteca Rabbinica (2nd ed. issued by J. Buxtrof, Fil., Basel, 1640).
- A. Capua di, “Catalogo dei Codici Ebraici della Biblioteca Vittorio Emanuele” Cataloghi dei Codici Orientali di alcune Biblioteche d’Italia, vol. 1 (Florence : 1878) p. 45, n°8.
- Ad. Fluri, “Der Buchführer Hans Hyppocras”, Neuen Berner Taschenbuch (1896), vol. 2, pp. 203-253 (esp. pp. 204; 250-253).
- G. Freudenthal, “Jacob ben Reuben and his Wars of the Lord: Religious Polemics and the Introductions of Philosophy to Twelfth Century Jewish Provence”, Medieval Encounters 22 (2016), pp. 25-71.
- T. Hackspan, Iber Nizzachon R. Lipmanni editus. Acc. Tractatus de usu librorum Rabbinicorum, (Nuremberg: 1644).
- W. Horbury, Jews and Christians in Contact and Controversy (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1998), esp. pp. 37-39; 244-261. [pp. 244-261 were originally published as “The Basel Nizzahon”, The Journal of Theological Studies, N. S. 34 (1983), pp. 497-514.]
- J. Kaufmann, Rabbi Yom Tov Lipmann Mülhausen (Hebrew) (New York: 1927).
- J. Official, Sefer Joseph Hamekane, J. Rosenthal (ed.) (Jerusalem: 1970).
- J. Prijs, Die hebräischen Handschriften in der Schweiz: Katalog der hebräischen Handschriften in den Schweizer öffentlichen Bibliotheken … redigiert auf Grund der Beschreibungen von Joseph Prijs (Basel, Benei Beraq: Sefer Verlag, 2018), pp. 41-43 (Nr. 42).
- J. Schatzmiller, La deuxième controverse de Paris. Un chapitre dans la polémique entre chrétiens et juifs au Moyen Age (Paris-Louvain : Editions E. Peeters, 1994).
- W. Schikhardus (Schickard), Nizzaḥon beli Netsaḥ sive Triumphator Vapulans (Tübingen: 1624).
- M. Schwab, « Manuscrits hébreux de Bâle », Revue des études juives 10 (1882), pp. 250-256 (esp. p. 255).
- M. Steinschneider, Catalog des hebraïschen Handschriften in der Stadbibliothek zu Hamburg (Hamburg: 1878), p. 71, n°187.
- M. Steinschneider, Die hebraïschen Handschriften der K. Hof-und Staatsbibliothek in Muenchen (Munich: 1895), p. 83.
- H. Trautner-Kromann, Shield and Sword. Jewish Polemics against Christianity and the Christians in France and Spain from 1100- 1500 (Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr (P. Siebeck), 1993), esp. pp. 102-116.
- J. C. Wagenseil, Tela Ignea Satanae (Altdorf : 1681).
- M. Zonca, ‘The “Imagined Communities” of Yom Ṭov Lipman Mühlhausen: Heresy and Communal Boundaries in Sefer Niẓẓaḥon’, in: Christoph Cluse and Lukas Clemens (eds.), European Jewry Around 1400 (Wiesbaden: Harrasowitz, 2018), pp. 95–119.