AN ITALIAN SILVER BOOK BINDING, VENICE, CIRCA 1900

Binding: 9 x 7 in.; 230 x 180 mm; two intact silver clasps on the fore-edge with marks from Venice. Book: 134 folios (8 1/2 x 6 3/8 in.; 217 x 162 mm) on paper. Title within woodcut archway; woodcut motifs scattered intermittently throughout; marginalia on ff. 114v-115r reproducing the text of Ps. 46 and 85; on f. 129r, strikethroughs over phrases perhaps perceived as disrespectful/overly confrontational in relation to Heaven, with replacement text written in the margins, some of it taken from the Sephardic liturgy for Musaf of Yom Kippur. Some foxing, browning, and scattered staining throughout; small tears in outer edges; a few pages repaired with tape or reinforced along gutter. Modern marbled paper pastedowns and flyleaves; blue-speckled edges.

An elaborate Italian silver book binding, the front featuring the two Tablets of the Law framed by two shofarot (ram’s horns) and surmounted by a crown and two plaques bearing the words Keter torah (The Crown of Torah), the back featuring a seven-branched menorah – both motifs surrounded by decorative scrollwork and floral elements – and the spine worked in silver acanthus leaves; all on a rose velvet ground. Fitted with Selihah ke-minhag kahal kadosh ashkenazim she-be-itali’ah (Venice: Bragadina, 1712), a collection of penitential prayers for the High Holiday season and various fast days throughout the year following the rite of the Ashkenazic Jews living in Italy. Book Provenance

Jacob Raphael Siena(?)

Literature

Vinograd, Venice 1608