Two compositions by Rabbi Jacob Judah Leon "Templo", bound together: "Afbeeldinge van den Tempel Salomonis" and "Afbeeldinge van den Tabernakel", Amsterdam: Pieter Joosten Messchaert, 1669. Dutch.
Two works by Rabbi Jacob Judah Leon: His composition dealing with Solomon’s Temple (intended as an explanatory text to accompany the model he had constructed of the Temple); and a second composition on the subject of the biblical Tabernacle which Moses was commanded by the Almighty to assemble in the desert to provide for the ritual needs of the Children of Israel. Both works provide reconstructive models and describe and discuss the ritual vessels associated with the two structures, and the customary manner in which the vessels were used.
The present edition is exceptionally rare. It was published while R. Leon was still alive; only a handful of copies have survived, and only a minority of these few copies include the engravings. The present copies contain all three engraved plates – hand painted in bold colors and gilt – featuring reconstructions of Solomon’s Temple (an illustration which inspired many later representations of the same structure); the Tabernacle and its vessels; and a map showing the positional arrangement of the members of the Tribes of Israel around the Tabernacle.
The composition dealing with Solomon’s Temple opens with the stamped impression of the Orange-Nassau coat of arms of the Dutch royal family, regarded in Jewish books as an outstanding example of royal coats of arms. Importantly, use of the impressed royal coat of arms was heavily restricted and demanded full authorization of the royal house; it demonstrated that the monarch had given his/her imprimatur and sanction to the work in question.

Rabbi Jacob Judah Leon Templo (1603 – sometime after 1675) was one of the great Jewish scholars of 17th-century Amsterdam. Born in Portugal to a family of Jews expelled from Spain, he studied in Amsterdam under Yitzhak Uziel, rabbi of the Neve Shalom congregation. Leon gained fame on account of his descriptions and reconstructions of the most significant structures and sacred vessels discussed in the Bible – including the Tabernacle in the desert, Solomon’s Temple, the Ark of the Covenant, and more – compiled for the first time ever, on the basis of the academic knowledge available at the time. His pioneering work earned him a great deal of respect. His reputation extended all across Europe, and gained him recognition among rulers and monarchs, including King Charles II of England; William II, Prince of Orange; Rudolph Augustus, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (who commissioned a translation of his works into German for his own benefit); and others. Building on the success of these books, Leon created a visual reconstruction of Solomon’s Temple, complete with the Temple vessels drawn to scale. So renowned was this model in its day that it earned him the nickname "Templo" in contemporary European academic circles.
Rare, few copies in OCLC.

Two works bound together: [2] leaves, 44 pages (pages 26-31 bound out of sequence) + [1] folding engraved plate (structure of the Temple); [4] leaves, 24 pages + [2] double engraved plates. 18 cm. Good condition. Minor stains and blemishes. Minor worming to back pastedown and other endpapers. Old binding with new front flyleaf. Inked stamp and handwritten notation on front pastedown. Wear and abrasion. Inscription on spine.

Exhibition: Only on Paper: Six Centuries of Judaica from the Gross Family Collection, Chicago, Columbia College, 2005.
Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, item no. NHB.125.

"Letters to the Jews, Inviting them to an Amicable Discussion of the Evidence of Christianity…", by Joseph Priestley. Bound together with "Letters to Dr. Priestley, in Answer to Those he Addressed to the Jews…", by David Levi. New York: J. Harrison for B. Gomez, 1794. English. First American edition.
Two works originally bound together (each with its own separate title page):

· "Letters to the Jews, Inviting them to an Amicable Discussion of the Evidence of Christianity", by Joseph Priestley (1733-1804), a renowned English Calvinist theologian, scientist, and natural philosopher.

· "Letters to Dr. Priestley, in Answer to Those he Addressed to the Jews", by the Jewish scholar David Levi (1740-1799). Composition written in defense of the Jewish religion, in response to two of Priestley’s letters.

The two works were published together in 1794, originally in the United States, by Jewish bookseller Benjamin Gomez. The book is one of the earliest Jewish works to be published in the United States of America. At the time of publication, the book stood out as entirely unique insofar as it dealt directly with the challenge of defending the Jewish faith and was both written and published by Jews.

131 pages. 16 cm. Good condition. Stains. Old leather binding, partly detached, unprofessionally restored with needle-and-thread. New endpapers.

Singerman 0080, 0082.

The Works of Lord Byron, volume containing the anthology Hebrew Melodies and additional poems (published as the fifth and final volume of a five-volume edition). London: John Murray, 1823. English.
A volume containing the anthology Hebrew Melodies, the collaborative effort of Lord (George Gordon) Byron and the English-Jewish composer Isaac Nathan, consisting of songs and poems set to ancient Jewish melodies, some of them supposedly derived from the music that graced the Temple in Jerusalem.
On the edges of the book block is a unique painting featuring a view of Jerusalem. This type of painting is unseen when the book is fully closed, but when the leaves are extended or fanned, a colorful, panoramic view of Jerusalem – painted in watercolor to produce a minutely-detailed landscape – suddenly appears, and then disappears once again when the pages are returned to a resting state.

Such works of art are termed "fore-edge paintings"; they were regarded as an exclusive form of book ornamentation in the 17th through 19th centuries. The illustrations were created – typically by expert, anonymous painters who did not put their signatures to the works – on the closed book block using specialized artistic tools. In most cases, the painting would not be visible if the book were completely closed, and, as in the present case, would appear only once the leaves were extended or fanned. The introduction of this technique is often attributed to the court painter of Charles II of England, who was asked to produce a distinctive but hidden mark that would serve to identify books borrowed from the Royal Library. The vast majority of these decorative illustrations featured family ornaments and coats of arms; only rarely would they take the form of landscapes and panoramas. Even rarer were paintings of this genre that actually depicted a scene relevant to the subject of the book.
The anthology of songs and poems titled "Hebrew Melodies" was presented as a collaborative effort by the English-Jewish composer Isaac Nathan and the renowned English poet and lyricist (and member of the peerage) George Gordon ("Lord") Byron. It included the lyrics Byron wrote for thirty ancient Jewish melodies – some of which, Nathan maintained, were sung and played in the Great Temple in Jerusalem prior to its destruction in 70 CE. Many of the songs in the anthology were dedicated to personalities from the Bible and traditional Jewish sources – including King Saul, Jephthah’s daughter, Job, and Koheleth – and some of the songs bear mention of Jewish aspirations to return to the Land of Israel. The panorama in the illustration that appears on the page edges of the present copy is most likely after a work by the English painter and architect Thomas Allom, who paid a visit to the Near East and Holy Land in 1834.

VIII, 284 pages, approx. 16.5 cm. Good condition. Stains. Gilt edges. Elegant leather binding, with some wear. Endpapers and back board detached from book block. Repairs to length of lines of attachment between boards, spine and endpapers. Housed in box lined with fabric matching color of binding.

Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, item no. NHB.324.