BEAUTIFULLY BOUND 1928 SCHLESINGER EDITION OF THE JEWISH FESTIVAL PRAYERS, THE FAMOUS DAVID LEVI TRANSLATION

SCHLESINGER, Jos. The Festival Prayers According to the Ritual of the German and Polish Jews with the Original Translation of the Late David Levi. Vienna: Jos. Schlesinger, 1928. Two volumes. Octavo, contemporary full polished brown sheep gilt, tab and loop closures, patterned endpapers, all edges gilt, original boxes.

Beautiful edition of Viennese publisher Joseph Schlesinger's dual-language prayers for the Jewish holy days, using David Levi's famous translation from the Ashkenazi tradition, beautifully bound in full sheep-gilt.

This lovely gift edition of David Levi's translation of the festival prayers is handsomely bound by Viennese Jewish publisher Joseph Schlesinger in full padded sheep with gilt embellishment on the spine and covers and with decorative tab closures. David Levi was arguably the most important Jewish scholar of his age. He was "born in London to poor immigrant parents who could not afford to educate him. With the distant help of his grandfather in Poland he learned Hebrew while working… He read voraciously in Jewish literature from ancient times to the present, as well as in Christian writings about Judaism and about the Bible. Seeing how little both Jews and Christians in England really knew about Judaism—its history, beliefs, and practices—and seeing inroads of Enlightenment scepticism emanating from the writings of Voltaire, David Hume, Tom Paine, and others affecting the Jewish community, Levi took upon himself the lifelong role of expositor and defender of his faith. Since the Jews in England did not know enough Hebrew, Levi wrote for them exclusively in English" (DNB). One of his early accomplishments was this work—translating the Hebrew prayer books of the Ashkenazi (the Polish and the Germans) into English. "When [Levi] died in 1801, after much ill health, his protestant friend Henry Lemoine published a poetic eulogy in the Gentleman's Magazine (October 1801), 'He's Gone! the Pride of Israel's Busy Tribe', praising him as a great explainer and defender of Judaism against Christians and sceptics" (DNB). Interestingly, David Levi's translation was also used by George Eliot for Daniel Deronda. She took numerous notes on his work and appears to have used his liturgy (somewhat incorrectly) to craft the religious life illustrated in her work (Irwin, 195-96). Printed in facing pages of English and Hebrew. The first edition of Levi's work was published in 1791. Without original cardboard boxes, rarely found. Encyclopedia Judaica 11:78. Contemporary owner gift inscription.

Books nearly fine, with only light rubbing to extremities.