1813 ILLUSTRATED VIENNA HAGGADAH, FROM THE PRESS OF ANTON SCHMID

(HAGGADAH). Haggadah: Ma'aleh Bet Horin. ["Ascent to the House of Freedom"]. Vienna: Anton Schmid, 1813. Quarto, modern half brown morocco, tan cloth boards, dark brown morocco spine label; ff. 52. $5500.

Handsome 1813 illustrated Haggadah, with 11 copperplate engravings. With various commentaries, including Isaac Abrabanel's seminal Zevah Pesah.

Schmid was a Christian publisher of Hebrew books who benefited greatly from an 1800 ordinance prohibiting the import of Hebrew books by Jews (who were themselves excluded from the publishing business). He did employ a number of Jewish typesetters and proofreaders, mainly from Galicia, who were granted special residence permits in Vienna (Encyclopaedia Judaica, I:978). "Schmid issued a number of printings of the Haggadah utilizing the delicately engraved popular illustrations of Abraham bar Jacob [which first appeared in the Amsterdam 1695 Haggadah]… Two popular commentaries by Moses Alscheikh and Ephraim Luntschitz added to the popular illustrations made for many editions" (Karp, From the Ends of the Earth: Judaic Treasures of the Library of Congress, 103). Among the illustrations are the famous 13-panel stages of the Seder and the ten-panel depiction of the ten plagues. Title page within decorative typographical border. Yudlov 543. Yaari 380. Occasional wine stains and signs of use, as often. Library inkstamp on title page.

Light scattered foxing, binding attractive. A lovely illustrated Haggadah.