Historia De Gli Riti Hebraici. Text in Italian

AUCTION 61 | Wednesday, March 12th, 2014 at 1:00

Fine Judaica: Printed Books, Manuscripts, Autograph Letters, Graphic Art and Ceremonial Objects

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Lot 201

MODENA, JUDAH ARYEH (LEONE) DA

Historia De Gli Riti Hebraici. Text in Italian

<<FIRST EDITION>> . Forward by Jacopo Gaffarelli. <<Opening blank bears signature “Rhabbi Menasseh Ben Israel.”>> Bookplates of Kimbolton Castle, Huntingdonshire (family seat of the Dukes of Manchester) and Daniel M. Friedenberg, Greenwich, Conn; along with book-description by H.P. Kraus. pp. (22), 217 (i.e. 117), (3). Lightly dampwrinkled. Contemporary vellum. Sm. 8vo.

Paris: di Gennaro 1637

Est: $1,200 - $1,800

PRICE REALIZED $1,500

The first publication written by a Jew in modern times outlining the practices of Judaism for a Gentile readership. Published at the request of Sir Henry Wotton, English Ambassador to Venice, for presentation to King James I, the book enjoyed great popularity and was translated into French, Dutch, German, English, Latin and, interestingly, even into Hebrew. See C. Roth, Leone da Modena and England in: Studies in Books and Booklore (1972) pp. 203-4.