Ask about this item

Jüdische Merckwürdigkeiten [Jewish Oddities], by Johann Jacob Schudt. Four parts in two volumes. Frankfurt and Leipzig, 1714-1718. German, German in Hebrew characters and some Hebrew.
The monumental work by Johann Jacob Schudt (1664-1772), seeking to understand the reasons for the Jews' oddities and customs. Schudt, an orientalist, linguist and scholar, devoted his entire career to the study of the Jews, and this work constitutes a summary of his work of many years.
The work contains descriptions of the Jews' living quarters, dress, holidays, literature and spiritual world, alongside a complex of anti-Semitic opinions in the guise of science. The book includes, uniquely, a chapter devoted entirely to the Jewish body - its shape, appearance and even smell, marking it as one of the first compositions of racial anti-Semitism.
The book contains four parts: the first part addresses the dispersion of Jewish communities throughout the world; the second part describes the history of the Jews in Frankfurt; the third part includes Schudt's "field work" (containing most of his "discoveries"); the fourth part contains various additions (printed about four years after the other three).
The work is accompanied by various engravings, including the engraving "The Jew's Sow" (Judensau), a portrait of the author, and more.
First volume: [11] leaves, 582 pp, [1] leaf; [4] leaves, 432, 383, [1] pp; [4] leaves, 358, [31] leaves + [6] engraved plates (including three small plates and one folded plate). 20.5 cm. Second volume: [16] leaves, 320 pp; 447 pp; [1], 192 pp, [19] leaves, 48 pp + [4] engraved plates (two small and two folded) and two full-page engravings. [1] leaf missing at the end of the book. One engraving may be missing. 20 cm. Good condition. Stains. Vellum bindings of the period. Tear, 3 cm long, to the bottom of the spine of the first volume. Stamps and bookplate.