Kirchner, Paul Christian / Jungendres, Sebastian Jacob (ed.). Jüdisches Ceremoniel, oder Beschreibung dererjenigen Gebräuche, welche die Jüden sowol inn- als ausser dem Tempel, bey allen und jeden Fest-Tägen, im Gebet, bey der Beschneidung, bey Hochzeiten, Auslösung der Erst-Geburt, im Sterben, bey der Begräbnüß und dergleichen, in acht zu nehmen pflegen. Nunmehro aber bey dieser neuen Auflage mit accuraten Kupfern versehen [...] von Sebastian Jacob Jungendres.

Nürnberg, Peter Conrad Monath, 173[0?].

4to. (10), 226, (26) pp. Title page printed in red and black. With engraved frontispiece (J. G. Puschner del et sc.), engr. separate double-page-sized title, and 28 double-page-sized engraved plates. Contemporary half vellum with ms. spine title; all edges coloured blue.

 2,500.00

A later edition of Kirchner's important manual of Jewish ceremonies and rites, first published in Jauer in 1716 (while Jungendres's expanded and well-illustrated edition first appeared in 1724). The plates show Rosh Chodesh, the Sabbath, Passover, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Chanukkah, Purim, circumcision, engagement, marriage, divorce, burial, etc., as well as liturgical objects, costumes, and rooms. The Polish-born Kirchner had been a rabbi in Fürth before converting to Protestantism in 1713, giving up his birth name Gumpel Mardochai (though Jungendres's preface suggests that he later returned to his old faith). Many of his descriptions are representative of the stricter Polish rites, rather than those observed by the more lenient German community. The engravings by the Nuremberg artist Johann Georg Puschner (commissioned by Jungendres) depict scenes from the Jewish congregation and synagogue of Fürth. "Today most libraries offer merely the reprint published in 1974. This reproduces the Erlangen University Library's copy of an edition of which the exact year of printing is not known, as it is not fully printed, reading only '173...'. Thus, it is only known that another edition was produced in the 1730s - likely in 1730, and certainly in 1735" (cf. Herzig, p. 19). In the present copy, the year of printing has been completed by a contemporary hand to read "1739". Binding somewhat rubbed and stained; old library shelfmarks to flyleaf. Altogether a good, fairly wide-margined copy.

References

A. Herzig, Das Interesse am Judentum zu Beginn des 18. Jahrhunderts: Paul Christian Kirchners 'Jüdisches Ceremoniel', in: Ashkenas 20 (2010), pp. 1-20. Cf. Lipperheide Oc 20. Hiler 500. Fürst II, 190. Mayer, Bibliography of Jewish Art, 1261. Not in Colas.

Stock Code: BN#45939 Tags: ,