Haggadah shel Pesah ke-Minhag Sefaradim (Passover Haggadah, Sephardic Rite), Translated by Jacob Meldula, London: Levi Alexander, 1813

33 leaves (9 1/2 x 7 1/2 in.; 240 x 190 mm). ii,19 + 7 engraved plates + 5 engraved maps (4 of which fold out). Hebrew and Spanish on facing pages. A single marginalium on f.6v; pencil mark on f.8v. Foxing, especially to engravings; cropped, not affecting any text; two minor tears at foot of first fold-out map; usual staining; marbled endpapers. Contemporary gilt-paneled tree-calf; losses;  rebacked.

Ya'ari, 381; Yudlov,544: Yerushalmi, 85 ; Cecil Roth, "Printed Illustrated Haggadot," Areshet (3):1961, p 26.

The first Hebrew Haggadah with Spanish translation

Prepared for Spanish and Portuguese Jews by Jacob Meldula of Amsterdam, this rare volume is the only Haggadah with Spanish Translation printed in London.  In addition to the accessibility afforded by a Spanish translation, the numerous engraved plates and folding maps made this an extremely handsome and highly desired volume among contemporary Jews of Sephardic origin in early nineteenth century England.  Although based on the earlier English-language London Haggadah of 1806, also printed by Levi Alexander, this augmented edition included several innovations including an engraved plate depicting the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.

Their Iberian origins notwithstanding, the Jews of England sought to demonstrate their integration into British society as expressed in the dedication of this Haggadah to an outstanding British patriot, Aaron Nunez Cardozo.  A Jewish merchant of Sephardic origin, Cardozo was probably English-born but later settled in Gibraltar and became an important local hero. In 1798, when he was instrumental in uncovering the conspiracy to betray the fortress to the French, Cardozo was publicly thanked for his services before a parade of the garrison.  During the Napoleonic Wars, he used his good offices to keep Gibraltar supplied with water and provisions and before the battle of Trafalgar (1805), he undertook a similar mission on behalf of Lord Nelson.  The dedicatory inscription adds to his list of plaudits the "promotion and encouragement of education among the young."