Form of Prayer by the Jewish congregation as Fast-Day on Wednesday 29th Adar, 5603, or 1st March, 1843, the day specially appointed … for … Thanksgiving to the Almighty, for His Bountiful Protection … when the Earthquake … did such awful damage at Guadeloupe, Antigua and the Neighbouring Islands

6 pages (7 5/8 x 4 3/4 in.; 194 x 118 mm). Printed on blue tinted paper. Leaves strengthened at gutter. Original printed wrappers bound into later 3/4 morocco over marbled boards; slip-case.

THE ONLY KNOWN EXTANT COPY

At 10:35 a.m., on the morning of February 8, 1843, death and destruction were visited on dozens of Caribbean islands, when the strongest earthquake to ever hit the region took the lives of between 1500-2000 people in a matter of minutes. Though the greatest damage was sustained in Guadeloupe where most of the deaths occurred, the shockwave and the ensuing tsunami and weeks of aftershocks, wreaked havoc across the entire region. Fully cognizant of having been spared, and in the face of the massive devastation surrounding them, the Jews of Barbados participated in a day of fasting and thanks-giving  in acknowledgement of having been spared from the worst of the destruction.

Although the place of publication is not noted, it would seem reasonable to assume that the printing occurred somewhere in the Carribean, in light of the short three week window between the earthquake (Feb. 8) and the thanksgiving service (March 1); nevertheless, the exact place of printing of what must have been at most only a few dozen copies remains unknown. Unrecorded by Singerman or any other relevant bibliographic sources; no physical copy of this work located; New York Public Library has a copy on microfilm.