Very rare copy of an important work for the history of the German Jews in the age of Emancipation. One of the many editions of these Gebete, which are translated from the Hebrew, the chief work of Isaac Euchel, one of the most important German jews of the Enlightenment. The original edition of the Gebete appeared in 1786 in Königsberg (other editions: Vienna, 1790-98; there exists also a 'Zweite Auflage': Berlin 1799). Euchel has translated the original and until then obscure old Hebrew Book of prayers for German and Polish Jews. It contains prayers for all occasions and for all times of the day, including songs and psalms. After the prayers follows "Massecheth Aboth", in 6 parts, teaching the Jewish laws and the rules for a virtuous life. In the preface the publisher explains that the first edition of this excellent translation from the Hebrew is long since sold out. This and the fact that many Israelites, especially the women, do not have suficient knowledge of the Hebrew language, and that also many Christians visit the Synagoge, which by the graciousness of the Emperor was recently established at Vienna, convinced the publisher that the book will find a wide public.
With a manuscript owner's inscription on the recto of the first free flyleaf ("Salomon Landesman Teplitz. 18.(?) Decemb. 1830") and some (slightly faded) annotations on the final free flyleaf and the back paste-down. The binding is worn, internally very slightly foxed. Otherwise in good condition. Worldcat 505218461 (1 copy); cf. Isaac Euchel: der Kulturrevolutionär der jüdischen Aufklärung, ed. Marion Aptroot (Hannover 2010); David Friedländer, 'Isaac Euchel und die Gebete-Übersetzungen in ihrem bildungshistorischen Kontext', in: Chr. Schulte, Marion Aptroot, Andreas Kennecke (edd.), Isaac Euchel. Der Kulturrevolutionär der jüdischen Aufklärung (Hannover 2009).