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Seder ha-Tefillah (Tephilloth, Containing the Forms of Prayers...), Translated by B. Meyers and A. Alexander, London: W. Tooke, 1770
Description
Provenance
Literature
Condition
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Catalogue Note
The first translation of the daily prayer book in the English language
In 1770, Alexander Alexander, pioneer of the Hebrew press in London, produced this liturgy according to the Ashkenazic rite in partnership with Benedict Meyers (Jost) of Halberstadt. The first English translation of the daily prayer book, it was printed on a subscription basis and interestingly, the list of subscribers included many non-Jews. The translators Alexander and Meyers took note in their preface, that despite the cultural and religious significance of the Hebrew language, "being imperfectly understood by many, by some not at all, it has become necessary to translate our prayers into the language of the country wherein it has pleased Divine Providence to appoint our lot." They also belittled the earlier attempt at an English translation of the Hebrew liturgy, the prayer book published in 1738 by the apostate Abraham Mears under the pseudonym Gamaliel Ben Pedahzur.