Bidspirit auction | Prayer Book. Amsterdam, 1726

Prayer Book. Amsterdam, 1726 - “Order of prayers, liturgical poems, and hymns, for every new month and every Sabbath in its season”—a complete prayer book for the entire year according to the Sephardic rite, printed in Amsterdam in the early eighteenth century. Before us is a handsome and carefully produced edition, among the important siddurim printed for Sephardic communities in Western Europe and throughout the Mediterranean, at a time when Amsterdam served as one of the most splendid centers of Hebrew printing. On the leaf preceding the title page appears a full-page impressive copper engraving. At its center is the figure of a lion, beneath which appears the biblical verse: “A lion’s cub is Judah” (Genesis 49:9) This artistic addition lends the prayer book a festive and regal character, befitting a volume intended for regular and honored devotional use. [2], 36, 41–243, [1] leaves. 20 cm. Condition: Good. Minor tears and signs of use. Age stains. Leather-covered wooden binding with defects.