Bidspirit auction | Rare ! Year-Round Machzor .Prague,

Rare ! Year-Round Machzor .Prague, 1690. Two Parts. - Machzor for the entire year in its proper order. Prague, 1690, printed by Moshe son of Rabbi Gershom Katz (Mechokek); at the end of the first part appears the printer’s device. Aside from its significance due to its nusach and commentary, the Prague Machzor is unique in its beautiful, high-quality printing. It features artistic title pages, Nekudot, frames, titles and initials crafted of impressive woodcuts, and decorative titles in dark ink. The Prague machzorim were extremely widespread and heavily used; therefore, almost no complete copies of this machzor have survived. This edition is exceedingly rare and has never appeared at public auction. It is recorded in the Bibliography Institute only on the basis of a photographic copy of a s ingle copy held in the Bodleian Library. Thus the printers praise their wares on the title page:  “Therefore be among the diligent who are rewarded—go forth to aid among the mighty, to purchase it quickly lest others precede you; and then you will search in cracks and crevices and pay double its price.” In the margins of the pages appears a foundational commentary on the piyyutim, based on the Lublin machzorim (1577, 1578). This commentary was expanded in the Prague editions and later secured its place in the well-known machzor Hadrat Kodesh, first printed in Venice and subsequently in many later editions. Part I: Sabbath, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot. 3, 7–159 leaves. Out of [6], 70, 79-160, [3] leaves. Part II: The Four Parashiyot, Purim, Passover, and Shavuot. 1, 3–5, 100–124 leaves. Out of 124 leaves. An early signature appears at the top of the title page of Part II: “I, the humble Elijah son of the late honored Rabbi Yehuda, of blessed memory—called in his lifetime ‘Yehuda Lubliner, ’ of blessed memory.” Overall good condition; some staining, minor repairs, and small holes in the final leaves of Part II; later binding. Included: An incomplete copy of the Machzor Hadrat Kodesh for the entire year. An early ownership inscription of the officer Rabbi Yisrael Brands, written by his son Rabbi Yosef Leib Brands. Also included within: a manuscript of Avinu Malkeinu according to the custom of the holy community of Thalmassing. 5-54, 155, [8], 155-305 leaves. 32.8 cm. Overall Good Condition, stains, some frayed edges.