Pentateuch, London: A. Alexander and Son: 1785

Estimate

8,000 - 10,000 USD

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Description

Printed Paper, Leather Binding

5 Volumes (8 x 4 3/4 in.; 205 x 120 mm). Printed in Hebrew and English [133]; [117]; [87]; [99]; [89]. Lightly browned. marbled endpapers. Contemporary tree-calf; supralibros, vol. II. Rebacked; gilt spines.

Provenance

Abraham Goldsmid (1756?–1810), Jewish financier, supralibros, vol. II.

Literature

Vinograd, London 108; Steinschneider 925.

Catalogue Note

FIRST HEBREW PENTATEUCH WITH ENGLISH TRANSLATION

For many years after the resettlement of Jews in England in the mid-seventeenth century, Spanish and Portuguese remained the languages of choice for liturgical and biblical translations for the members of the London Sephardi community. From the early 18th century, however, the progressive Anglicization of Jews in England rendered these translations of the Hebrew Bible inadequate for educational needs. The Pentateuch produced by A. Alexander in 1785 was the first to include both Hebrew and English text of the Five Books of Moses. Even though the only available English translation was the “Authorized” King James version, Alexander’s edition provided Jews with the opportunity to counter the Christianizing tendency of the King James version by having the Hebrew original in a side-by-side format. The present copy was formerly in the collection of the British Jewish financier, Abraham Goldsmid (ca. 1756-1810).