Sacred Splendor: Judaica from the Arthur and Gitel Marx Collection
Sacred Splendor: Judaica from the Arthur and Gitel Marx Collection
SIDDUR (DAILY PRAYER BOOK) ACCORDING TO THE POLISH RITE, EDITED BY RABBIS AZRIEL BEN MOSES MESHL AND ELIJAH BEN AZRIEL OF VILNA, FRANKFURT AM MAIN: JOHANNES WUST, 1704
Auction Closed
November 20, 08:47 PM GMT
Estimate
6,000 - 8,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
SIDDUR (DAILY PRAYER BOOK) ACCORDING TO THE POLISH RITE, EDITED BY RABBIS AZRIEL BEN MOSES MESHL AND ELIJAH BEN AZRIEL OF VILNA, FRANKFURT AM MAIN: JOHANNES WUST, 1704
100 folios (6 1/2 x 3 7/8 in.; 164 x 99 mm) (foliation: [1]-68, 65-84, [1]-12), with a quarter-page insert bound between ff. 4-5. Title within border of typographic ornaments; decorative elements on ff. 2v-3v, 4v-5r, [1r]; names of angels inscribed in pen in margins of Ps. 136 on ff. 15r-16r. Very slight scattered staining; minor thumbing, browning, and dogearing; outer edges somewhat frayed toward front of volume; repairs in gutters of ff. [1]-41, 9-12, slightly affecting some text near inner margins on a couple leaves; long tear on f. 34 repaired; small hole affecting individual letters on ff. 11-12. Original (?) boards, rebacked and reinforced along edges; single original brass clasp catching on fore-edge; modern paper flyleaves and pastedowns.
A rare copy of the first edition of an influential Ashkenazic liturgy.
Balthasar Christian Wust the Elder (1630-1704/1708) and his son Johannes were important figures in the early history of Hebrew printing in Frankfurt. From about 1692 to 1707, the younger Wust issued at least thirty-one titles, including the present lot. This prayer book is distinguished by the care taken to ensure the accuracy of its text. For this purpose, the editors, Rabbis Azriel ben Moses Meshl and his son Elijah of Vilna, consulted a manuscript corrected by the hand of the famous grammarian Rabbi Shabbetai Sofer of Przemysl. At the close of the volume appears a twelve-folio introduction to Hebrew grammar entitled Ma‘aneh eliyyahu, adapted from part of Rabbi Isaac ben Samuel ha-Levi of Posen’s Sefer siah yitshak (Prague, 1627). This edition of the Polish-rite prayer book would prove popular and go on to be reprinted in quick succession, under the title [Seder] tefillah derekh siah ha-sadeh, in Berlin (1713), Wilhermsdorf (1721), and Altona (1729).
Provenance
Judah Leib Mainz (f. [1r])
Literature
Herbert C. Zafren, “Hebrew Printing by and for Frankfurt Jews – to 1800,” in Karl E. Grözinger (ed.), Jüdische Kultur in Frankfurt am Main von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1997), 231-271, at p. 235.
Vinograd, Frankfurt am Main 189