“Jüdisches Ceremoniel” [“Jewish Ceremonies”], by Paul Christian Kirchner. Nuremberg: Peter Conrad Monath, 1726. German and some Hebrew.
The present volume presents a detailed description of Jewish customs and ceremonies as practiced in Germany in the 18th century. It was authored by Paul Christian Kirchner, a Christian convert from Judaism. The book contains thirty engraved plates. All except one
the engraving opposite the title page – are folded. The engravings depict various Jewish ceremonies and customs, including observance of the mitzvah of phylacteries, the “halitzah” ceremony, ” the observance of the Sabbath and sabbatical holidays in the synagogue, and more. Some of the engravings are signed in the plate by the artist Johann Georg Poschner.
The book was first printed in 1716, without the engravings. The author, whose original name was Mordechai Gumprecht, was born Jewish. He converted to Christianity shortly before writing this book. In the introduction to the first edition, he declares his intention to persuade his Jewish brethren to follow in his footsteps and forsake their faith. The work was re–edited in 1724 by the theologian Sebastian Jacob Jugendres, who inserted comments, made corrections, and attempted to soften the harshest of Kirchner’s antisemitic statements. The present volume represents this re–edited version.

[5] ff; 226 pp., [9] ff. + [30] (engraved plates). Approx. 21 cm. Good condition. Stains. Worming (minor damage to printing, mostly to last pages). Handwritten notations (from roughly the time of printing), and inked stamp on title page. Bound in elegant leather binding, decorated, with remnants of gilt. Blemishes and wear to binding and spine.

Exhibition:
• Only on paper: Six Centuries of Judaica from the Gross Family Collection, CD, 2005.
Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, No. NHB.352.

Two editions of the important book composed by the Hebraist and scholar Johann Buxtorf (1564–1629). Buxtorf accurately recorded the customs, prayers and lives of Ashkenazi Jews. Although the tone of the book is explicitly anti–Semitic, it is considered a milestone in the study of Jews and Judaism, and was even used by Jews at the time.
The present editions are accompanied by in–text engravings, depicting various customs of German Jewry. Illustration of synagogue interior (double–spread engraving) at the beginning of the books. Fine double–spread title pages, printed in red and black:

1. Synagoga Judaica Noviter Restaurata, das ist, Erneuerte Judische Synagog, oder Juden–schul, by Joannis Buxtorfi (Johannes Buxtorf). Frankfurt and Leipzig: Johann Paul Kraussen, 1729. German.
[10] leaves, 752 pages, [4] leaves + [1] engraved plate. 16 cm. Good condition. Minor stains. Parchment binding. Minor wear and stains to binding. Minor worming to binding.

2. Synagoga Judaica Noviter Restaurata, das ist, Erneuerte Judische Synagog, oder Juden– schul, by Joannis Buxtorfi (Johannes Buxtorf). Frankfurt and Leipzig: Johann Paul Kraussen, 1738. German.
[10] leaves, 608 pages, [20] leaves + [1] engraved plate. Approx. 18.5 cm. Good condition. Stains. Minor tears, including a few open tears, affecting text (open tears to pp. 93–94 and 233–234, affecting text and illustrations). Worming. Old leather binding, worn and damaged. New spine.

Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, NHB.343, NHB. 344.

Complete four–volume set of "Picturesque Palestine, Sinai and Egypt", edited by Charles W. Wilson, and the appended fifth volume "Social Life in Egypt". London: J.S. Virtue and Co. [ca. 1880–1884].

A comprehensive collection of scholarly essays dedicated to Palestine's history, geography and archaeology, and its people – Jews, Muslims and Christians – written by renowned British researchers (among whom Charles Wilson and Henry Baker Tristram).
The essays are accompanied by numerous steel engravings, depicting the landscape and people of Palestine, and numerous in–text illustrations (woodcuts), after works by the painters Harry Fenn and John Douglas Woodward, and two large color maps (a map of Palestine and a map of Sinai and Egypt).
The present four–volume set is appended by a fifth volume – Social Life in Egypt, by Stanley Lane–Poole (London: J. S. Virtue and Co., [1884]), printed in a similar format to the other volumes, accompanied by woodcuts and steel engravings.

5 volumes. Vol. I: X, 240 pp. + [10] plates; Vol. II: VI, 240 pp. + [12] plates; Vol. III: VI, 240 pp. + [11] plates + [1] map (double sheet); Vol. IV: VI, 236 pp. + [9] plates + [1] map (double sheet); Vol. V: IV, 138 pp. + [6] plates. 32 cm. Good condition. Stains and minor wear (most of which in volume V). Covers rubbed and slightly worn.

Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, ALE.5..

Ceremonies et coutumes religieuses de tous les peuples du monde, by Bernard Picart. Five out of nine volumes. Amsterdam: J. F. Bernard, 1723–1737. French.

Five volumes of the monumental work "Religious Ceremonies and Customs of All the Peoples of the World", compiled and edited by the author and printer Jean Frédéric Bernard, and illustrated by the great 18th century engraver, Bernard Picart (as Jean Frédéric Bernard chose to remain anonymous, the work was printed under Picart's name only).
The present incomplete set includes the first volume, dedicated to the history and customs of the Jews and the Roman Catholics, comprising important essays on various branches of Judaism and Jewish communities: Orthodox Jews, Ashkenazi and "Portuguese" (Sephardic) Jews, Samaritans, Karaites, Sadducees, Pharisees, Chinese Jews, and others, with several fine engravings, among them: a depiction of the dedication of the Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam, depictions of various Jewish customs, ceremonies and jolidays, such as the wearing of phylacteries, Bedikat Chametz, the Passover Seder, Sukkot, the Marriage ceremony, Circumcision, Pidyon HaBen, Simchat Torah, various ceremonial utensils, and the ceremonies of the Catholics.
The remaining four volumes are dedicated to the customs of the Anglicans, Quakers, and Anabaptist Christians (vol. IV, 1736); the customs of the Muslims (vol. V, 1737); the customs of the people of the West Indies (vol. VI, second printing of 1723); and the customs of the people of China, Japan, and Persia (vol. VII, 1728). These volumes contain dozens of engraved plates, in–text engravings and illustrated initials. Overall, the five volumes in the present lot contain more than 150 engraved plates (many of them double–spread). One plate missing from vol. IV.

5 Vols. Number of pages varies, 44 cm. Leather bindings, with blemishes and wear.

Exhibition:
• Only on paper: Six Centuries of Judaica from the Gross Family Collection, CD, 2005.
Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, NHB.396.