Bidspirit auction | Exceptionally Rare: A prayer printed

Exceptionally Rare: A prayer printed for the coronation of the last French king before the French Revolution! Paris, 1775 * ”A voice of joy and a voice of gratitude, song and praise” – This is a quote from the booklet of prayers printed for the occasion of the coronation of King Louis XVI of France, on the 11th of June, 1775. Hebrew and French, on facing pages. The booklet was prepared for the tiny Sephardic community residing in Paris at that time, originally from the cities of Avignon and Bordeaux in southern France. In those years, only about 500 Jews (!) lived in Paris, of whom about 100 hailed from Avignon. The Chida, who visited Paris in 1778, writes that the synagogues in Paris do not operate by license, ”only by a miracle”... The prayers were composed and compiled by Yisrael Bernard, of the Di Valabrègue family, who served as the king’s personal scribe and translator and received an especially high salary. The booklet includes a list of Psalms - songs in honor of the king, together with heartfelt blessings for him to overcome all his foes. Every stanza of the first song ends with the call: ”Long live the king!” On the final leaves appears the renowned prayer 'Hanoten Teshua LaMelachim, ' (He Who grants salvation to kings). The famous French Revolution erupted in all its force around fourteen years later. It was during this time that the king was captured by his adversaries and executed in 1793. This is a leaf of extraordinary rarity, with only a handful of known copies worldwide. It is not in the National Library, nor recorded in the Bibliographic Project, or in the Otzar HaSefer HaIvri. This is a very special document of historical importance regarding the connection between the Jews of France and the French state and monarchy. Paris, 1775. Printed by Michael Herbert. Page Count: 24 pages. Size: 17 cm. Condition: Good, a few stains. Antique cloth-covered binding. Attached is an article about the author of the booklet, by Ronald Schechter, 2006. - - - - - - - - - - - - As mentioned above, the Chida visited Paris in 1778. He would go on to describe his meetings with Yisrael Valabrègue, author of the booklet, while lavishly praising the people of Avignon and blessing them from the depths of his heart for their fine character traits. (See: Ma'agal Tov Hashalem, Jerusalem 2022, pp. 367-370).