Antiquitez Judaïques, ou Remarques Critiques sur la Republique des Hebreux [Jewish antiquities, or critical remarks on Republic of the Hebrews], by Jacques Basnage. Amsterdam: Frères Chatelain, 1713. French. Two parts in two volumes.

Basnage's Jewish Antiquities constituted the fourth and fifth parts of the French adaptation of Republic of the Hebrews by Petrus Cunaeus (first published in Latin in 1617), depicting the Israelite kingdom as the model of a constitutional republic.

Volumes accompanied by 2 fine title page engravings and 24 folding engravings, with various maps and illustrations.

Volume I: LXXIV, [6], 360, 361-379•, [12] pages + [15] engravings. Volume II: [1], 361-884, [16] pages + [9] engravings. Approx. 16 cm. Overall good condition. Minor defects. Bookplates. Original leather bindings, uniform, with gilt inscriptions on spines. Rubbing, peeling and wear to bindings.

Bibliotheca Hebraea, by Johann Christoph Wolf. Hamburg and Leipzig: Christian Liebezeit (Part I), Theodor Christoph Felginer (Parts II-IV), 1715-1733. Four parts in three volumes. Latin with some Hebrew.

Comprehensive study of Hebrew literature. Parts I and III discuss rabbis and Jewish authors, including a list of names (Hebrew and Latin). Parts II and IV discuss the Bible, Talmud and kabbalah.

Johann Christoph Wolf (1683-1739), Hebraist and bibliophile of German origin. In 1712, he was appointed Professor of Oriental Languages and Literature at the University of Hamburg. He dedicated his time to the study of Hebrew literature, particularly the Oppenheim collection, culminating in the present four-volume Bibliotheca Hebraea.

Includes three frontispieces at beginning of first, second and fourth parts (identical illustration on Parts I and IV, with portrait of author; in Part II there appears an engraving of the library).

Four parts in three volumes. Volume I (Parts I-II): [1] frontispiece, [3] leaves; 40, 1161, [35], 24 pages. [1] frontispiece, [5] leaves, 1484 pages. Volume II (Part III): [4] leaves, 1226, [60] pages. Volume III (Part IV): [1] frontispiece, [6] leaves, 1226, [72] pages. 20-20.5 cm. Most leaves in good condition. Stains. Worming to some leaves of first volume, slightly affecting text. Volume I in early binding, worn, and other two volumes in early leather bindings, with defects.

At end of second volume are bound two more works (with many varying foliations):

• Beurei HaMikra, Notae selectae, criticae, philologicae, exegeticae – a philological exegetical work on the Old and New Testaments, by Heinrich Benedikt Starke, Leipzig: I.F. Braunii, 1710-1723. Latin. Five parts, with divisional title pages (main title page in black and red).

• Tractatus talmudici Avoda sara, sive De idololatria, caput primum, e Gemara Babylonica latine redditum, chapters 1-2 of Tractate Avodah Zarah from the Babylonian Talmud, with extensive commentary and notes in Latin, by Georg Eliezer Edzardo. Hamburg: Spieringianis, 1705. Hebrew and Latin. Only the first part, on chapter 1, without Part II on chapter 2, printed in 1710.

Belehrung der Jüdisch-Teutschen Red- und Schreib-Art [Instruction for the Art of Speaking and Writing Yiddish], by Johann Christoph Wagenseil. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Conrad Monath, 1737. German.

This work discusses the language and culture of Germany Jewry, particularly Yiddish (Jüdisch-Teutsch or Judeo-German), including texts in German, Hebrew, Yiddish and Latin.

Accompanied by 16 engravings, four of which cover an entire page – a chalitzah shoe, the Titus Gate in Rome, and more; as well as two folding engraved plates depicting scenes from the Arch of Victory on the Titus Gate.

Johann Christoph Wagenseil (1633-1705) was a German jurist, theologian and Hebraist who extensively studied rabbinic literature and its relation to Christianity. He opposed forced conversion of Jews, but supported conversion by means of persuasion and preaching.

[86], 334, 56 + [6] engraved plates. Approx. 20 cm. Overall good condition. Stains and light wear. Bookplate. Blue edges. Old cardboard binding, with parchment corners and spine. Stains and light wear to binding and spine.

Rare. Not documented in the NLI catalog, and to the best of our knowledge and research, has not previously been put up for auction.

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.