Sacred Splendor: Judaica from the Arthur and Gitel Marx Collection

Sacred Splendor: Judaica from the Arthur and Gitel Marx Collection

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 126. SIDDUR (DAILY PRAYER BOOK) ACCORDING TO THE POLISH RITE WITH AN EXTENSIVE COMMENTARY AND ESSAYS BY RABBI JACOB EMDEN, ALTONA: [RABBI JACOB EMDEN], 1744-1748.

SIDDUR (DAILY PRAYER BOOK) ACCORDING TO THE POLISH RITE WITH AN EXTENSIVE COMMENTARY AND ESSAYS BY RABBI JACOB EMDEN, ALTONA: [RABBI JACOB EMDEN], 1744-1748

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November 20, 08:47 PM GMT

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10,000 - 14,000 USD

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SIDDUR (DAILY PRAYER BOOK) ACCORDING TO THE POLISH RITE WITH AN EXTENSIVE COMMENTARY AND ESSAYS BY RABBI JACOB EMDEN, ALTONA: [RABBI JACOB EMDEN], 1744-1748


3 parts in 4 volumes (approx. 6 5/8 x 3 3/4 in.; approx. 169 x 95 mm): Vol. 1 (Ammudei shamayim): 418 folios (foliation: [1], [1]-356, 354-385, 389-415, 417-418); Vol. 2 (Sha‘arei shamayim): 159 folios; Vol. 3 (Birkhot shamayim part 1): 314 folios (foliation: [1]-314); Vol. 4 (Birkhot shamayim part 2): 80 folios (foliation: 315-380, 382-395) on paper. Diagram of Shabbat hallot on 1:338r; chart displaying correspondences between Paleo-Hebrew and “Assyrian script” on 3:331r; diagrams of the two sides of an ancient shekel on 3:331v. Slight scattered staining (see, e.g., 4:387); browning and foxing; tightly bound; some dogearing; remnants of library stamp and shelf mark on title page of Vol. 1; slight damage in outer edges of title page of Vol. 1 and of 1:[1]-4, 3:7, 4:368, and in lower edges of 4:376-377, 383; short tears in upper edge of 1:3 and in lower edge of 3:310; printing error on 1:358 due to folding of page; 2:159 remargined along lower edge; Vols. 3-4 cropped along lower edge with slight loss of text at foot of 3:[1]; small punctures on 3:[92], 112; light worming in outer edges of 3:137, 211, not affecting text, and near lower edges of 4:375-395, usually affecting individual letters only; minor repairs on 3:314, slightly affecting text, and in upper-outer corner and lower edge of 4:394; 4:395 bound backward and repaired with small losses throughout. All volumes bound in modern calf, somewhat worn around the edges and on spines; red lettering pieces with titles on spines (except Vol. 2, whose lettering piece is loose); spine of Vol. 1 cracked at f. 148; headband of Vol. 1 exposed; short tear on spine of Vol. 3 at head; yellow edges for Vols. 1-3 (Vol. 3 edges also speckled green); modern paper flyleaves and pastedowns.


The first edition of the famous and oft-reprinted Emden siddur.


Rabbi Jacob ben Zevi Hirsch Ashkenazi (1697-1776), one of the outstanding scholars of his generation, returned to his native Altona in 1733 following a brief rabbinate in Emden, after which city he came to be known. Apparently in order to avoid censorship by the leaders of the local Jewish community, Emden appealed directly to the Danish authorities governing Altona at the time for a privilege that would allow him to operate a publishing office out of his home. After an initial failed attempt, his request was ultimately granted in November 1743. In the years that followed, Emden would use this press to print numerous books and pamphlets, usually of a halakhic or polemical nature.


The first work issued at Emden’s press was the present carefully-organized siddur, printed in three parts: Ammudei shamayim, comprising the prayers for weekdays and Sabbaths; Sha‘arei shamayim, comprising the prayers for New Moons, festivals (including a Passover Haggadah), the High Holidays, Hanukkah, and Purim; and Birkhot shamayim, comprising discourses on halakhot related to everyday life, such as kashrut. Emden sought herein to present an accurate, vocalized version of the liturgical text itself, accompanied by thorough halakhic discussions and proper Lurianic kavvanot (intentions). The work achieved immense popularity among halakhists, grammarians, and Hasidim and has often been reissued (with variations) under the title Siddur beit ya‘akov.


Bibliographical notes:


The text of f. 318 in the present exemplar of Ammudei shamayim is the same as that of the Mehlman copy referred to by Yudlov and Ormann, who claim that this version is the original one. In addition, Birkhot shamayim, whose title page refers to it as “Part 1,” was apparently never completed. Printing ceased abruptly after f. 395, as evidenced by the catchword at the foot of the verso.


Literature

Arthur Arnheim, “Hebrew Prints and Censorship in Altona,” Studies in Bibliography and Booklore 21 (2001): 3-9.


Bernhard Brilling, “Die Privilegien der Hebräischen Buchdruckereien in Altona (1726-1836): Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte des hebräischen Buchdruckes in Altona,” Studies in Bibliography and Booklore 9,4 (Spring 1971): 153-166, at pp. 155-156, 159-160.


Bernhard Brilling, “Zur Geschichte der Hebräischen Buchdruckereien in Altona,” Studies in Bibliography and Booklore 11,1-2 (Winter 1975/1976): 41-56.


Isaac Raphael, “Kitvei rabbi ya‘akov emden: bibli’ogerafyah,” Areshet 3 (1961): 231-276, at pp. 239-240 (nos. 29-31), 265-270 (nos. 26-27).


Jacob J. Schacter, “The Siddur of Rabbi Jacob Emden: From Commentary to Code,” in Ruth Link-Salinger (ed.), Torah and Wisdom: Studies in Jewish Philosophy, Kabbalah, and Halacha: Essays in Honor of Arthur Hyman (New York: Shengold Publishers, Inc., 1992), 175-187.


A. Shauli, “Adrikhal armon tefillah,” Sinai 58,4-6 (1965-1966): 274-277.


A. Shauli, “Ha-hasidut ve-sidduro shel ha-ya‘bets,” Shanah be-shanah (1974): 363-370.


Chaim and Betzalel Stefansky, Sifrei yesod: sifrei ha-yesod shel ha-sifriyyah ha-yehudit ha-toranit (n.p.: Chaim and Betzalel Stefansky, 2019), 115 (no. 415).


Vinograd, Altona 45, 46, 47


Isaac Yudlov and G.J. Ormann, Sefer ginzei yisra’el: sefarim, hoverot, va-alonim me-osef dr. yisra’el mehlman, asher be-beit ha-sefarim ha-le’ummi ve-ha-universita’i (Jerusalem: JNUL, 1984), 55 (no. 214), 134 (no. 804).