Auction 55 Part I - Rare and Important Items
May 9, 2017 (Your local time)
Israel
 8 Ramban St, Jerusalem.
The auction has ended

LOT 6:

Broadside and Two Printed Compositions - the Venetian Conjoined Twins - Venice and Bologna, 1575-1576

Sold for: $4,200
Start price:
$ 2,000
Auction house commission: 23%
VAT: On commission only
tags:

Broadside and two printed compositions on the subject of the Jewish conjoined twins from Venice. [Venice and Bologna, 1575-1576]. Italian.
On May 26, 1575, conjoined twins were born in the Jewish ghetto of Venice. The twins had two heads, four arms, four legs and one body from their waist down and they roused much interest in the midst of the Jewish and Christian population causing many curious people to come to their home and see the wonder. After eight days, the twins died and their father gave the dead body to the Gemillut Chassadim society in the ghetto. Instead of burying the body as required by Jewish law, the society preserved the body and put it on display for payment. Some of the Venetian rabbis strongly opposed this desecration, among them were R. Samuel Judah Katzenellenbogen and R. Refael Yosef Treves. A long halachic responsum by R. Samuel Judah Katzenellenbogen on this matter, prooving that the twins must be buried according to halacha, was printed in the book Zera Anashim (Mukacheve 1902). Finally, after a "tidy sum" was collected for the funds of the Gemillut Chassadim society, the twins were buried.
The twins, who were called "the monster" were also of great interest to researchers who were eager to document the unusual phenomenon (at that time, the study of "monsters" became widespread). Another reason that the twins were the focus of such attention is the fact that close to the time of their birth, an epidemic of pestilence spread among the population. The proximity of these events caused many to think that the birth of the twins was a sign hailing the epidemic or that both the unnatural birth and the epidemic were expressions of G-d's wrath.
Three years after the birth of the twins, the event was described in the book Gai Chizayon (printed in Alexandria 1880) by the Jewish kabbalist and philosopher R. Abraham Yagel (1553-1623), who wrote an explanation for the birth of the twins.
1-2. Two compositions bound together:
* Nova et Ridicolosa Espositione del Mostro nato in Ghetto, con il Lamento di suo Padre per la Morte di Quello [New ridiculous exposition of the Ghetto monster, with the father's lamentation on its death]. Venice, 1575. Italian.
At the end of the composition is a full-page hand-colored woodcut, depicting the twins next to their parents. [6] leaves.
* Discorso sopra gli accidenti del parto mostruoso nato d'una hebrea nel ghetto di Venetia, nell'anno 1575 a di 26 di Maggio [Discourse of events surrounding the monstrous birth… in the Venice ghetto in 1575 on May 26], by Gio [Giovanni] Giuseppe Gregorio Cremonese. Printed by Giouanni Rossi, Bologna, 1576. Italian.
This composition ties the birth of the twins to the corrupt leadership of the Jewish community in Italy. The author cites three types of explanations for the birth of the twins - a "material" explanation based on scientific opinions common in that era regarding the birth of conjoined twins; a "celestial" explanation based on astrology (in this framework, the author studies other cases of the birth of conjoined twins in proximity to various calamities); and a "G-dly" explanation which is primarily composed of blaspheming the Jewish religion and claiming that the Jewish interpretation of the book of Daniel and the occupation of the Jews of the Venice Ghetto lending money with interest, caused the birth of the conjoined twins and the ensuing epidemic.
The composition is accompanied by illustrations including an illustration of the twins, a horoscope of the day of their birth and of the day their mother conceived them.[7] leaves. Lacking last leaf.
Both compositions are bound together. 19 cm. Good condition. Stains and minor damages. Handwritten signatures on the title pages of both compositions. Nice-looking parchment binding.
3. Mostri e Segni che si sono veduti in Vinegia nell'a anno 1575 [Monsters and signs that they were seen in Venice in 1575]. Printed by Pietro Farri, Venice, 1575. Italian.
A printed broadside with details of "monsters" (unusual natural phenomenon) in Venice, including the conjoined twins. On the bottom is an illustration (woodcut) which depicts some of the aforementioned monsters. [1] leaf, 27.5 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains. Lacking bottom right corner. Tears restored with paper gluing in the center of the leaf (on folding crease).
The three items are not in NLI.
Provenance: Toaff family collection.