A machzor for the High Holy Days according to the custom of Asti, Foano and Moncalvo. This custom was based on the ancient French custom. Exiles from France who settled in Northern Italy prayed according this custom for hundreds of years. Prayer books and machzorim according to the custom of Asti, Foano and Moncalvo were never printed, and only a few dozen exist in manuscript form.
Specifications: [3], 183, [1] paper leaves. 27×20 cm. Block scribal handwriting. Pages 145-149 were completed in different handwriting.
The copier’s colophon appears on page 183a: “And the entire work was completed today, Sunday of the portion of Ha’azinu in the year 1736…”. Ownership signatures in Italian are at the beginning of the machzor, among them Zecharia David Ottolenghi, two of whose plays are in the National Library in manuscript form.
Unique Features: This manuscript was written by an expert scribe in especially nice script, with vowels and a few decorations.
An extra three pages in different handwriting with the end of the Amidah prayer and Kaddish Titkabel are at the end of the machzor.
Condition: Fine. A few aging stains and ink smudges. In very few places, the acidity of the ink made tiny holes on the leaf. New leather binding, with the original leather binding restored on top of it.