Neville, Marianne, trans. Sha'ar HaTephilah V'Seder HaAvodah / The Book of Common Prayer
AUCTION 44 |
Thursday, June 25th,
2009 at 1:00
Fine Judaica: Hebrew Printed Books, Manuscripts, Autograph Letters, Graphic & Ceremonial Art
Lot 145
(IRELAND)
Neville, Marianne, trans. Sha'ar HaTephilah V'Seder HaAvodah / The Book of Common Prayer
Dublin: Oct. 25, 1829
Est: $800 - $1,000
On p. ii is this curious Certificate written by the translator: "I certify that during the time I was translating and transcribing this Prayerbook for the use of the Christian Israelites that lest they should deem it an offence to use a book of prayer written by a Gentile, I abstained from eating anything forbidden by the Law of Moses, nor did I use any pens but new ones, that had not been used in any other writing."
Before the exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey in the 1920s, Smyrna (Izmir) was home to a large and influential Greek Orthodox population. The inclusion of Greek in this prayerbook is rather obvious: It was the fervent hope of the missionaries that Smyrniote Jews, once converted to Christianity, would be absorbed into the local Greek population