Machzor [festival prayers]

This is the scarce second edition of the Soncino Roman Machzor, reset following the first edition issued in Casal Maggiore. The text on the pages is the same as the first edition, although the layout differs subtly in many places. The date and place of printing has been disputed due to the lack of a colophon. The rarity of the second edition of what has come to be known as the "Machzor B'nei Roma" is borne out by the fact that bibliographer Gershon Cohen opines that Yeshiva University Library's copy is actually a "hybrid" of three editions: leaves of the second edition, combined with leaves of the first edition of 1486 and the later Fano 1504 edition. See G. Cohen, Hebrew Incunabula in the Library of Yeshiva University (1984), p. 41, final paragraph. The Roman rite, also known as the Italian or “Lo’azim” rite, is rich in multifaceted piyutim. It originated in early medieval Rome and maintained a distinct identity. For a thorough, scholarly discussion of this rite, see Samuel David Luzzatto: Mavo LeMachzor Bnei Roma (Tel-Aviv, 1966); with notes and additional material by Daniel Goldschmidt, and a bibliography by Y.Y. Cohen. See also S.C. Reif, Judaism and Hebrew Prayer (1993), pp.164-66.