Beschreibung:

Jewish. MEDICI. Riti e costumi degli ebrei. MEDICI, Paolo Sebastiano. Riti e Costumi degli Ebrei. Madrid, Luc'Antonio de Bedmar, 1737 8vo, 185x125 mm; contemporary full vellum binding. Red sprayed edges. Pp. XVI, 398, [3]. Woodcut initials and headpieces. Name of the author handwritten on spine. Handwritten note of date and place of publication at the lower margin of title page. Nice copy.
A beautiful edition of this volume of great historical and ethnographic interest, even in an openly controversial and disputatory setting, for the reports given to the history of the Jews, of circumcision, of the Talmud, of the rabbis, of the synagogues, traffics and shops, superstitions , vows, confession, fasts, various feasts, marriage, burial and Jewish opinions on Hell, Paradise and Messiah. The work, structured in 33 chapters, was written in open contrast with the Historia dei riti ebraici with which the famous Venetian rabbi Leone Modena had wished to divulge the customsof his people in the previous century. The book offers a broad overview of all anti-Jewish stereotypes, focusing on a detailed analysis of rituality, shown as the fruit of superstitions and witchcraft, and reviving the well-known theme of the "blood accusation". In particular, in chapter 32, preceded by the written letter to the Jews of Italy in which he narrates his conversion, the author dwells on the denial of the coming of the Messiah as a central proof of the obstinacy of a people profoundly against Christians.