MINHAGIM, SIMEON HA-LEVI GÜNZBURG, AMSTERDAM: ELIJAH ABOAB [AND MENASSEH BEN ISRAEL], 1645

A MAGNIFICENT, UNUSUALLY RARE COPY OF SEFER MINHAGIM AND ONE OF THE FINEST PRODUCTIONS OF THE BEN ISRAEL-ABOAB PRESSES, WITH NOBLE PROVENANCE.

Minhag in Hebrew means custom or usage, and this volume is a popular guide, with charming illustrations, of the customs for Jewish festivals and life-cycle events. The first illustrated edition of this text was printed in Venice in 1593, and the book was extraordinarily popular - numerous later editions were printed at Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Prague.

The twenty-six large and twelve small images used here are modeled on those of the 1593 Venice edition, newly cut with bold, sharp features. Some scholars have suggested that these illustrations were intended to help instruct young children who were not yet literate, or were just beginning to learn to read, in the performance of Jewish rituals. With time, the figures became emblematic of Ashkenazic folklore and practice and would reappear in dozens of editions of Minhagim, Passover Haggadot, and other titles, particularly (although not exclusively) those in which Yiddish text was a prominent component.

In 1634, Menasseh Ben Israel visited the international book fair held in Frankfurt am Main, where he appears to have met booksellers from Eastern Europe. Shortly thereafter, in addition to the books he printed for his own Sephardic community, he began issuing titles meant for an Ashkenazic market, including works in Yiddish. The present Minhagim is either the second or third such work he and Aboab published, and it has the distinction of being the very first illustrated book printed in Hebrew characters to appear in the Northern Netherlands.

The present copy of this handsome work is distinguished not only by its beautiful condition but by its having once belonged to the library of Karl Philipp Theodor (1724-1799), eventual Elector of Bavaria, as evidenced by the gilt coats of arms on the upper and lower boards.

76 folios (7 1/4 x 5 5/8 in.; 183 x 142 mm) on paper. Title within elaborate architectural frame; thirty-one beautiful full-size woodcut vignettes illustrating scenes from Jewish ritual life and practice (some of them repeats); twelve smaller woodcuts representing the twelve signs of the zodiac/labors of the months; decorative elements on ff. 1v, 19v, 30v-31r, 40v, 69r-v, 76r. Contemporary vellum over board with gilt-stamped heraldic seal on both upper and lower boards.