❧ Description
Maḥzor for the annual cycle according to the rite of Algiers, handwritten by Tsemaḥ Duran between 6 Nisan 5416 (1656) and 4 Tishri 5422 (1661). Illuminated title page, 323 quarto leaves on paper. Neubauer divides the manuscript into eight major sections aligned with the printed Amsterdam edition of 1685 (Sabbath, Purim, Pesach, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, etc.), with numerous piyyutim identified by acrostics (including four by Moshe el-Ashqar) and a predominantly kabbalistic content. Alphabetical index of liturgies at fol. 319. Chain of owners: Z'kharyah, Mas'ud hak-Kohen, then Nathan ben Shelomo ibn Kaspi.
Provenance: 1 Begun on 6 Nisan 5416 = 1656, completed on 4 Tishri 5422 = 1661 (colophon) 2 Successive owners: Z'kharyah, Mas'ud hak-Kohen, Nathan ben Shelomo ibn Kaspi 3 Bodleian Library (Opp. Add. series)
Codicological notice — origin Algiers, Regency of Algiers, Algeria; copyist: Tsemaḥ Duran; script: Sephardic; folios: 323 folios; dimensions: quarto; early catalogues: Neubauer Catalogue 1886 · 1084; editorial status: Partial edition available.
— Source: Mémoires des Manuscrits Juifs du Moyen-Âge Maghrébin (MMJMM / Collectif GMPL), https://mmjmm.org/corpus/catalogue/bodleian-opp-add-4to-63; manuscript held at the Bodleian Library (Oxford).
