Heading: (Judaica)
Author: [Mears, Abraham] "Gamaliel ben Pedahzur", translator
Title: The Book of Religion, Ceremonies, and Prayers; of the Jews, as practised in their synagogues and families On all Occasions... with the Hebrew Title of each Prayer made English
Place Published: London
Publisher:Printed for J. Wilcox
Date Published: 1738
Description:

2 parts in 1. xiv, 96, 291, [7] pp. Woodcut initials, head & tailpieces; related contemporary folding French engraving bound in before B1 (not called for). 19.3x12 cm (7½x4¾"), period calf, rebacked in leather, later morocco label, later endpapers.

First edition in English of the Jewish Prayer Book (Siddur), being the first translation of any part of the Jewish prayer book into English. According to Cecil Roth, Mears was "an apostate member of one of the oldest families of the Ashkenazi community in England", and his "description of Jewish rites and ceremonies... is of considerable interest, giving as it does a graphic, detailed, and at times not unamusing picture of London Jewish life, in particular, it must be accentuated, the life of the community of the Great Synagogue, in which Mears had been brought up in the first half of the eighteenth century". Armorial bookplate; institutional inkstamps on front endpaper and title page.

Some rubbing to joints and extremities; very good.