Jüdische Merckwürdigkeiten [Jewish Oddities], by Johann Jacob Schudt. Four parts in two volumes. Frankfurt and Leipzig, 1714-1718. German, with some Hebrew, Yiddish and Latin.
"Jewish Oddities" was published between 1714 and 1718, introducing one of the most comprehensive studies on Judaism until then: more than 3,000 pages documenting the minute details of Jewish life, dress, language, prayers, holidays and customs.
Although the book did not address any particular community, most of the information it contains was gathered in the author's city, Frankfurt, and it provides a valuable documentation of the Frankfurt Jewish community. Several of the texts copied by Schudt (in Hebrew and Yiddish) are unknown from other sources: a Selicha authored by Rabbi Shmuel Schotten Katz following the great fire in the Jewish Quarter of Frankfurt in 1711; the Purim play "Ahasuerus-Spiel" (of which most copies were burnt following a rabbinical decree; the text was preserved only thanks to Schudt); two versions of women's incantations for childbirth; regulations of the Jewish community forbidding luxuries (see item 78); and more.
Besides its documental value, the book is considered a landmark in the history of modern anti-Semitism, mainly due to a special chapter dedicated entirely to a description of the Jewish body – its shape, colors and smells (this chapter is considered a harbinger of racist anti-Semitism in Europe).
The book features several engravings (some as separate plates and some in-text), including a portrait of the author, an engraving depicting Jacob blessing Joseph's sons, an engraving depicting two festive processions held in Jewish communities in Germany in 1716 for the birth of Leopold Johann, the son of the Holy Roman Emperor, Carl VI, and an especially offensive engraving of the Judensau ("Jews' Sow"). Missing two engraved plates.
Vol. I: [11] leaves, 159, 180-582 pp, [1] leaves; [4] leaves, 432, 383, [1] pp; [4] leaves, 358 pp, [31] leaves + [3] large engraved plates and [2] small engraved plates, approx. 20.5 cm; Vol. II: [16] leaves, 320; 447, [1], 192 pp, [19] leaves, 48 pp, [1] leaf + [2] large engraved plates and [2] small engraved plates, approx. 20 cm. Missing two engraved plates. Good condition. Stains and minor blemishes. Several tears, some to folding engraved plates. Handwritten notations to endpapers. Bookplate to inside binding of the second volume. Blemishes and wear to bindings. The first volume in modern binding (with a cloth spine) on which an old leather binding is mounted, with a label on the spine.

The Light of Youth, [1937], a painting by Maurice Sochachewsky (1918-1969).
Oil on canvas. Signed.
The painting depicts Jack Johnson, a young miner from the city of Talywain in Wales.
Maurice Sochachewsky (1918-1969), born in East London, England, studied at St. Martin's School of Art. In ca. 1937, he lived for eight months in the mining town of Talywain in Wales, documenting the miners' lives and hard lot. During World War II, he served in the Royal Welch Fusiliers and was wounded during the Battle of Normandy. In 1949, shortly after the establishment of the State of Israel, Sochachewsky visited Israel, sketching its views. He illustrated several Yiddish publications published in Britain in the 1940s. Several of his works are exhibited in the Ben Uri Gallery.
Approx. 83X48 cm. Fair-poor condition. Blemishes to paint. Tears in the center of the canvas. An open tear. The canvas is torn along the frame and is detached from its margins; part of the margins are missing. Framed.
Provenance: the Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Margulies Collection.

Great is Peace, Fragments of an Ancient Talmudic Tractate, translated by Daniel Sperber. Five prints by Gerson Lieber. New York: Oil Creek Press, 1997. English.
Five excerpts on the subject of peace from the Derech Eretz Zuta tractate: Peace between Individuals, Israel's peace, Global peace, Cosmic peace and Peace of Jerusalem. Accompanied by five prints by Gerson Leiber, all signed in pencil.
A bibliophile edition, printed on thick paper and hand-bound. Copy no. 11 of 50.
Gerson Leiber (1912-2018) was a Jewish American painter, sculptor and lithographer. His works were exhibited in more than 200 exhibitions and in a variety of museums and galleries in the USA and worldwide.
[8] leaves + [5] plates, approx. 25.5 cm. good condition. Stains to margins of leaves and to binding (mostly minor).
Not in OCLC.
See items 91-92.