Collectie Alfonso Cassuto
Item
Nota de estado
Finalizado
Country
NL
Name of institution (English)
University of Amsterdam Collections - Allard Pierson Museum
Name of institution (official language of the state)
Language of name of institution
dut
Contact information: postal address
Oude Turfmarkt 127-129, 1012 GC Amsterdam
Contact information: phone number
0031(0)205255501
Contact information: web address
Contact information: email
Reference number
Hs. Ros.
Type of reference number
Archival reference number
Title (English)
Alfonso Cassuto Collection
Title (official language of the state)
Collectie Alfonso Cassuto
Language of title
dut
Creator / accumulator
Alfonso Cassuto
Date(s)
1500-1975
Language(s)
deu
heb
por
spa
Extent
20 linear metres
Type of material
Textual Material
Physical condition
Good
Scope and content
Alfonso Cassuto's collection is part of the general manuscript collection of the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana. It consists of manuscripts and printed works on the history of the Iberian Jews and conversos, in particular with respect to the Portuguese Inquisition. A special mention should be made to the group of manuscripts by Priest António Vieira (1608-1697) regarding the proceedings of the Portuguese Inquisition and the New Christian question (Hs. Ros. 610, Hs. Ros. 612, Hs. Ros. 618, Hs. Ros. 619, Hs. Ros. 623, Hs. Ros. 633, Hs. Ros. 638, Hs. Ros. 652, Hs. Ros. 666, Hs. Ros. 667, Hs. Ros. 671), and to a copy of "Testamento político", a letter written by the Portuguese diplomat D. Luís da Cunha (1662-1749) to the future king of Portugal José I, in which approached the negative impact of the Inquisition and the persecution against New Christians in the Portuguese economy (Hs. Ros. 611).
The collection comprises several works by Iberian-Jewish and Converso authors. Some examples are the following:
Estevão Rodriguez de Castro (1559-1638): "Rimas de Estevão Rodriguez de Castro", a late-18th-century manuscript copy of the first edition of his collection of poetry (Hs. Ros. 625).
Saul Levi Mortera (1596-1660): "Re(s)puesta a las objeciones con que el Sinense injustamente calumnia al Talmu Compuesto en el año de 5406", polemical treatise against Sixtus of Siena's criticism against the Talmud, copied in Hamburg in 1732 (Hs. Ros. 630).
António Serrão de Castro (1610-1685): "Decimas de An.o Serrão de Castro q. deu ahû familliar saindo no acto da Fé no anno de 1682 em 10 de Maio quexando dos Ratos por metaphora q. tudo dis lhe. roerão". Collection of poems by António Serrão de Castro (1610-1685) and contemporaries, including Serrão de Castro's satyrical poem against the Inquistition "Os ratos da Inquisição" (The Inquisition's rats), an early 18th-century copy (Hs. Ros. 624).
Isaac Oróbio de Castro (1620-1687): collection of polemical works by Isaac Oróbio de Castro (1620-1687), including "Prevenciones divinas contra la vana Ydolatria de las gentes...", "Ynve[c]tiva contra un Philosopho Medico sobre la verdad de la divina ley...", "Tratado o respuesta aun Cavallero Frances reformado doctísimo...", "Respuesta a una persona que dudava si el libro de Reymundo Lulio nuevamente Traducido y comentado por Don Alonso de cepeda era ynteliguible...", and "Respuesta apolegetica al Libro Que Escrivio Don Alonso de Cepeda...", copied and decorated by David Lopez Quiros in Amsterdam in 1712 (Hs. Ros. 631).
António Nunes Ribeiro Sanches (1699-1783): "Origem da denominação de Cristão Velho e Cristão Novo no Reino de Portugal" (The origins of the denominations of New Christian and Old Christian in Portugal) (Hs. Ros. 646), "Cartas sobre a educasam da mocidade", a treatise about the education of the aristocratic Portuguese youth (Hs. Ros. 636), and "Observaçoens Sobre as Molestias Venereas...", a medical treatise on venereal diseases (Hs. Ros. 668).
António José da Silva (1705-1739): "Tractado critico, e Apologetico, em q' se defende a Justificada ventagem, e mayoria, que pellaz Suaz innumeraveiz excellencias Leva Alecrim â Mangerona", prose work on the subject that inspired his comedy "Guerras de Alecrim e Manjerona" (Hs. Ros. 627), and "Obras do fradinho da mão furada", a short moralistic novel also attributed to Silva (Hs. Ros. 650 and Hs. Ros. 651).
Included in Collectie Alfonso Cassuto are also collections of Portuguese and Spanish poetry and prose, namely one of 16th/early 17th-century texts copied by Dr. Antonio Coelho in 1626 and later (Hs. Ros. 647), and another dating from the 18th century (Hs. Ros. 649).
The collection also includes copies of documents related to the Portuguese Jewish community of Altona, including a collection of sermons by Abraham Meldona, composed between 1773 and 1776 (Hs. Ros. 639), and Cassuto's copies of the list of deceased members of the Portuguese Jewish community of Altona from 1769 to 1887 (Hs. Ros. 632), and the record of births of the same community between 1769-1877 (Hs. Ros. 645).
Another highlight is a Portuguese-Hebrew book of prayers containing prayers for the Day of Atonement, the fasts of Ab, Tebet, Guedalia and Esther, and the weekday morning services from the first half of the 16th century (Hs. Ros. 679).
The collection comprises several works by Iberian-Jewish and Converso authors. Some examples are the following:
Estevão Rodriguez de Castro (1559-1638): "Rimas de Estevão Rodriguez de Castro", a late-18th-century manuscript copy of the first edition of his collection of poetry (Hs. Ros. 625).
Saul Levi Mortera (1596-1660): "Re(s)puesta a las objeciones con que el Sinense injustamente calumnia al Talmu Compuesto en el año de 5406", polemical treatise against Sixtus of Siena's criticism against the Talmud, copied in Hamburg in 1732 (Hs. Ros. 630).
António Serrão de Castro (1610-1685): "Decimas de An.o Serrão de Castro q. deu ahû familliar saindo no acto da Fé no anno de 1682 em 10 de Maio quexando dos Ratos por metaphora q. tudo dis lhe. roerão". Collection of poems by António Serrão de Castro (1610-1685) and contemporaries, including Serrão de Castro's satyrical poem against the Inquistition "Os ratos da Inquisição" (The Inquisition's rats), an early 18th-century copy (Hs. Ros. 624).
Isaac Oróbio de Castro (1620-1687): collection of polemical works by Isaac Oróbio de Castro (1620-1687), including "Prevenciones divinas contra la vana Ydolatria de las gentes...", "Ynve[c]tiva contra un Philosopho Medico sobre la verdad de la divina ley...", "Tratado o respuesta aun Cavallero Frances reformado doctísimo...", "Respuesta a una persona que dudava si el libro de Reymundo Lulio nuevamente Traducido y comentado por Don Alonso de cepeda era ynteliguible...", and "Respuesta apolegetica al Libro Que Escrivio Don Alonso de Cepeda...", copied and decorated by David Lopez Quiros in Amsterdam in 1712 (Hs. Ros. 631).
António Nunes Ribeiro Sanches (1699-1783): "Origem da denominação de Cristão Velho e Cristão Novo no Reino de Portugal" (The origins of the denominations of New Christian and Old Christian in Portugal) (Hs. Ros. 646), "Cartas sobre a educasam da mocidade", a treatise about the education of the aristocratic Portuguese youth (Hs. Ros. 636), and "Observaçoens Sobre as Molestias Venereas...", a medical treatise on venereal diseases (Hs. Ros. 668).
António José da Silva (1705-1739): "Tractado critico, e Apologetico, em q' se defende a Justificada ventagem, e mayoria, que pellaz Suaz innumeraveiz excellencias Leva Alecrim â Mangerona", prose work on the subject that inspired his comedy "Guerras de Alecrim e Manjerona" (Hs. Ros. 627), and "Obras do fradinho da mão furada", a short moralistic novel also attributed to Silva (Hs. Ros. 650 and Hs. Ros. 651).
Included in Collectie Alfonso Cassuto are also collections of Portuguese and Spanish poetry and prose, namely one of 16th/early 17th-century texts copied by Dr. Antonio Coelho in 1626 and later (Hs. Ros. 647), and another dating from the 18th century (Hs. Ros. 649).
The collection also includes copies of documents related to the Portuguese Jewish community of Altona, including a collection of sermons by Abraham Meldona, composed between 1773 and 1776 (Hs. Ros. 639), and Cassuto's copies of the list of deceased members of the Portuguese Jewish community of Altona from 1769 to 1887 (Hs. Ros. 632), and the record of births of the same community between 1769-1877 (Hs. Ros. 645).
Another highlight is a Portuguese-Hebrew book of prayers containing prayers for the Day of Atonement, the fasts of Ab, Tebet, Guedalia and Esther, and the weekday morning services from the first half of the 16th century (Hs. Ros. 679).
Archival history
The basis of the Cassuto collection consists of old property of the Cassuto family. From 1930 to 1975, Alfonso Cassuto expanded this collection, which was purchased in 1975 by Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana. It is now part of the Special Collections of the University of Amsterdam.
Administrative / Biographical history
Alfonso Cassuto was a bibliophile, antiquarian, and researcher. He was born in Hamburg to an old Portuguese Jewish family who had arrived in Hamburg via Amsterdam. His father, Juda Cassuto, was the last president of the Portuguese Israelite Congregation there, of which he wrote a history. Alfonso studied Portuguese and Dutch at the University of Hamburg. He felt a strong connection with Portugal as well as with Hamburg and Amsterdam. He started to write a thesis on Portuguese Jews buried in the Hamburg cemetery, but when the Nazis rose to power, he had to abandon those plans. The unfinished manuscript is in the Hamburg city archives. In 1934, he left for Porto via Amsterdam. Shortly afterwards, his wife died after giving birth to their second child. In 1943, he settled in Lisbon with his children and parents. There he founded his first antiquarian bookshop, Livraria Cassuto, in 1958. After his daughter's marriage to Siegfried Rosenthal, the name was changed to Livraria Rosenthal. Cassuto emphatically kept Jewish literature and history out of his commercial activities and built up one of Sephardica's largest post-war private collections. Due to the unrest that followed the Portuguese Carnation Revolution in 1974, he decided to sell his collection to the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana. Between 1975 and 1989, Alfonso Cassuto again assembled a large collection of Sephardica, which was auctioned in 2011 at Kestenbaum Auctions in New York.
Access points: locations
Access points: persons, families
Access points: corporate bodies
Access points: subject terms
Access points: document types
Access, restrictions
When consulted, the Regulations for the Users of the Library of the University of Amsterdam apply. Reproduction and reproduction rights fees in accordance with the University of Amsterdam Rates and Services . The material is only made available for inspection.
Finding aids
A card catalogue can be consulted in the library.
Links to finding aids
Author of the description
Maria Aires do Carmo and Carla Vieira, 2021
Bibliography
Published primary sources
Linked resources
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