Meah Berachoth [collected prayers and instructions issued for Marrano refugees]

(BINDING)

Albertus Magnus

Amsterdam

1687

Text in Hebrew and Spanish. Engraved frontispiece by the Jewish artist Benjamin Godiness depicting Man’s Five Senses by way of the performance of five ceremonial acts. Opening words within typographical border. Library stamps. A Fine Copy. Bound In Silver-Gilt Binding, Lemberg, 1806/7. Binding consists of two silver layers with sandwiched brass sheet; top layer cut-out in interlace pattern with organic and geometric motifs. Head and tail guards, of similar design, protect edges of pages. Spine is single layer, with gilt interlace ornamentation in two registers. Two large clasps, also layered and cut out. Marked at center, front and back, (maker’s intials E. T.), marked on top of element holding anchoring bar. H:135mm

Vinograd, Amsterdam 550; Fuks, Amsterdam 606; Gans, Memorbook p.141; Roth, Jewish Art col. 474

An Unusually Handsome, Crisp Copy. In a Fine Silver Binding. Included in the Meah Berachoth are: Hagadah for Passover, a recipe for Charoseth, instructions for constructing a Mikvah, an index of blessings for the entire year including relevant laws and commentary according to Sephardic rite, a perpetual liturgical calendar, prayers for the sick, prayers for the last rites, and prayers for Martyrs who were burned at the stake by the Spanish Inquisition. The Meah Berachoth is the only known Hebrew publication by the gentile Albertus Magnus. A publisher, bookseller and bookbinder, he did not have a printing house of his own, though his name appears on several Dutch publications. It is difficult to ascertain who printed the Meah Berachoth for Magnus. Fuks suggests David de Castro Tartas as the most plausible, due to his experience printing other such bilingual works. Provenance: Swann Galleries, New York, Hebraica & Judaica, 25th June 1991, lot 40