Historia De Gli Riti Hebraici. Text in Italian

MODENA, JUDAH ARYEH (LEONE) DA

di Gennaro

Paris

1637

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.

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.