Kirchliche Verfassung der heutigen Juden, by Johann Christoph Georg Bodenschatz. Frankfurt-Leipzig: Joh. Friedr. Beckers / Georg Otto, 1748-1749. German and Hebrew. Four parts in two volumes (with engraved title page at beginning of first volume and general title page in each volume; general title pages printed in red and black).
Important study by the German theologian J
ohann Christian Bodenschatz (1717-1797) on the Jewish religion and customs, particularly the customs of Ashkenazic Jewry. The book includes detailed and objective descriptions of Jewish customs during the author's time and provides a highly important source of information on the history of Jews in the 18th century. The book is accompanied by thirty engraved plates produced by Gottfried Eichler, Georg Paul Nusbiegel and Johann Conrad Müller, depicting Jewish customs and lifestyle: inauguration of a Torah scroll, blessing of the moon, priestly blessing, prayers in the synagogue, Sabbath, the High Holidays, Jewish festivals, tallit and tefillin, circumcision, pidyon haben, marriage and divorce, chalitzah, shechitah, immersion in the mikveh, visiting the sick, Jewish burial, and more.
Two volumes. Volume I: [28], 206; 328, 331-386, [2] pages. Volume II: [4], 256; 270, [34] pages. Total of [30] engraved plates in both volumes (including title page engraving at beginning of first volumes; some engravings bound out of place). [12] pages of introduction to second volume bound at end of first volume (several leaves at beginning of first volume misordered). 23 cm. Good condition. Stains. Marginal tears and open tears to several leaves, not affecting text. Old bindings, with defects.
