Antique and illustrated Haggadot

There is plenty more to be said about some of these Haggadot but the hour is late. Most of these items are just in.

Ben Meir, Samuel; Yom-Tob ben Abraham Ishbili; Judah Loeb ben Bezalel; Ephraim Solomon ben Aaron of Lenczycza; Moses Sofer and Isaac Abravanel. Seder Hagadah shel Pesah: mevu'arah im asarah be'urim mi-ge'one olam ha-nod'im le-shem ule-tehilah: ... a) P. Rashi: b) Rashbam: g) Ritva: d) Gevurot H. (meha-gaon Maharal mi-Prag): h) Olelot Efrayim ... Vilna, Be-Defus Ha-Almanah veha-Ahim Rom, 1873. Octavo, brown leather spine with minor wear at the spine ends, edgeworn marbled paper covers, front endpaper cracked at the hinges, 76 pp. Hardbound. Good. Text is in Hebrew. Yudlov 1410. (71813)     $65.00

Boussidan, Ya'akov. Haggadah. Tel Aviv, 1967. Royal octavo, stapled paper covers, 20 pp., b/w and color plates. Softbound. Very Good. Introduction by Benjamin Tammuz. "The Art of Ya'akov Boussidan," Robert Payne. Biography also by Payne. Boussidan was an Egyptian Jew from an Eastern European and Moroccan family. It is unclear whether there is an entire Boussidan Haggadah, but the images here are all images that would serve that interest well, including a suite of images on the Ten Plagues. (71820)      $15.00

Cassel, David, translation and notes by. Lel hitkadesh hag: ve-hu Seder Hagadah le-lel shimurim... / Die Pesach-Hagada: mit vollständigem, sorgfältig durchgelesenem Texte. Berlin, Eigentum und Verlag von M. Poppelauer's Buchhandlung, 1905 (5665). Small octavo, soiled printed paper covered boards, spine reinforced with paper worn at the ends (a fairly old repair), 33, 33 pp., yellowed paper. Hardbound. Good. Text is in Hebrew and German on facing pages. (71803)  Yudlov 2289.    $50.00

Cowen, Mrs. Philip, arranged by. Hagadah shel Pesah: The Seder Service For Passover in the Home. A Completely Revised English Translation with New Notes, Music and Illustrations. New York, Philip Cowen, Publisher, 1907. Sixth Edition - 60th Thousand. 16mo, black cloth with minor wear at the spine ends, soiled printed paper covered boards, 142 pp., b/w drawings, with music in notation. Hardbound. Good. Text is in Hebrew with English language translation (71812)  Yudlov 2384.    $20.00

De Sola Pool, Rabbi David and Tamar, text edited by. The Haggadah of Passover. Illustrations by Parenzo. South Brunswick, New Jersey, Thomas Yoseloff, 1975. Oblong quarto in dust jacket, iv, 140 pp., duotone illustrations throughout.  Hardbound. Very Good. Text is in Hebrew and English translation by the De Sola Pools. The work was originally created for the Jewish Welfare Board to be used in a Haggadah for the troops in the mid 1940s and published in 1951. This edition is printed directly from the artist's original plates and was the first edition printed in that manner. (71824)      $35.00

Dym, Aaron, translation by. Hagadah shel Pesah: The Hagadah. Service for the First Two Nights of Passover. With a New Translation. New York, Ziegelheim, 1963. Fourth Edition. Quarto, blue cloth spine, illustrated paper covered boards, 64 pp., 12 pp. color illustrations. Hardbound. Very Good. Text is in Hebrew and English. The first edition was published in Vienna in 1928. Later New York editions were in 1945 and 1955. The early printings have less sturdy boards which are often damaged. Color in the earlier editions is more vibrant. All editions are uncommon. Dym is not credited as the illustrator in all of the printing. This Haggadah (in all of the editions) has one of the most readable texts in both Hebrew and English. Dym illustrated five other liturgical works including a prayer for divine intercession against the Nazi and Japanese foes in 1945. See Yudlov 4441 for the third edition. (71822)      $75.00

Freedman, Jacob. Polychrome Historical Haggadah for Passover. With a Commentary, Interpretive Translation, Introduction, Notes, References and Bibliography and Illustrations in color from Rare Medieval Haggadah Manuscripts. Springfield, Mass., Jacob Freedman Liturgy Research Foundation, 1974. Quarto in dust jacket with slight edgewear and a very minor chip, xxvi, 134 pp., text printed in seven colors to indicate different periods of composition, b/w and color illustrations, bibliography, index to passages. Hardbound. Very Good.  

The author promises a Polychrome Bible but was never able to get beyond the prospectus stage. Kickstarter might have worked for him. (71821) $200.00

Fürstenthal, R.J., translation into German by. Hagadah shel Pesah: Die beiden Pessachabende. Mit neun Illustrationen. Prague, Eigenthem u. Verlag d. Buchhandlung v. Wolf Pascheles, 1879. 16mo, soiled illustrated printed paper covered boards, black cloth spine, 64 pp., nine b/w drawings. Hardbound. Good. Text is in Hebrew with translation into German with the Hebrew text in parallel columns. Illustrations are in-text. (71806)  Yudlov 1532.    $95.00

Hagadah le-Lel Shimurim oder, Erzählungen von Jisraels Auszuge aus Mizrajim. Uebersetzt von einem jüdischen Gelehrten. Brilon, Germany, Druck und Verlag der M. Friedländer'schen Offizin, 1849. Zweite Auflage. Duodecimo, black cloth with major loss to the back-strip and with minor edgewear, 64 pp., foxing. Hardbound. Good. Text is in Hebrew with translation into German below the Hebrew text. Instructions in Judeo-German in the Hebrew text. Yudlov 923. (71805)    $125.00

Hagadah shel Pesah: Vortrag über Israels Auszug aus Egypten für die beiden ersten Abende des Pesach-Festes mit deutscher Uebersetzung und Illustrationen. Frankfurt a. M. , Verlag von J. Kaufmann, 1891. Duodecimo, black cloth spine, mildly soiled orange printed paper covered boards, 64 pp., ten b/w drawings based on old wood cuts, concludes with a sample contract for the sale of Hametz. Hardbound. Good. Text is in Hebrew with parallel German translation on each page. (71809)  Yudlov 1853.   $40.00

Hagadah shel Pesah: Vortrag über Israels Auszug aus Egypten für die beiden ersten Abende des Pesach-Festes mit deutscher Uebersetzung und Illustrationen. Frankfurt a. M. , Verlag von J. Kaufmann, 1893. Duodecimo, blue cloth spine, soiled  printed paper covered boards, 64 pp., ten b/w drawings based on old wood cuts, concludes with a sample contract for the sale of Hametz. Hardbound. Good. Text is in Hebrew with parallel German translation on each page. (71810)  Yudlov 1898.   $35.00

Hagadat Koyfman: Hotsa'ah Faksimilit shel K"Y 422 Me-Osef Koyfman Ba-Sifriyah Orientalit shel Ha-Akademiyah Ha-Hungarit Le-Mada'im/ The Kaufmann Haggadah: Facsimile Edition of MS 422 of the Kaufmann Collection in the Oriental Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Publication of the Oriental Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences I. Budapest, Publishing House of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 1957. Small quarto, vellum spine with raised bands and gold lettering, tan paper covered boards, with a color illustration drawn from the manuscript at the center of the Hebrew opening front board, 108 pp. reproducing the original manuscript flaws and all. With water-staining at the edge of the English opening endpaper and at the edge a few pages further in not effecting the facsimile images. Hardbound. Good.
Text is in Hebrew.

 
A lengthy description of the Kaufmann Haggadah can be found on the website of the Kaufmann Collection at http://kaufmann.mtak.hu/en/study10.htm. (71823)  Yudlov 4500.    $50.00

Heidenheim, W. Seder ha-Hagadah le-lel shimurim/  Erzählung von dem Auszuge aus Ägypten: für die beiden ersten Pessachabende. Frankfurt a. M. (Rödelheim), M. Lehrberger & Co., 1926. Small octavo, patterned paper covered boards with mild wear at the spine ends, 64 pp., ten b/w drawings based on old wood cuts by Stanislaus Bender. Hardbound. Good. Text is in Hebrew with parallel translation into German by Selig Bamberger. (71804)  Yudlov 3049.    $30.00

Heidenheim, W. Seder ha-Hagadah le-lel shimurim/  Erzählung von dem Auszuge aus Ägypten: für die beiden ersten Pessach=Abenden. Frankfurt a. M. (Rödelheim), M. Lehrberger & Co., c. 1920. Neue illustrierte verbesserte Auflage. Small octavo, blue cloth, 64 pp., ten b/w drawings based on old wood cuts by Stanislaus Bender [?], yellowed paper with a few short tears. Hardbound. Good. Text is in Hebrew with parallel translation into German by Selig Bamberger. (71807) $40.00

Heidenheim, W., translated into German by. Seder ha-Hagadah le-lel shimurim/  Erzählung von dem Auszuge aus Ägypten: für die beiden ersten Pessachabenden. Frankfurt a. M. (Rödelheim), M. Lehrberger & Co., 1914. Neue illustrierte verbesserte Auflage. Small octavo, black paper covers with wear to the spine, 65 pp., ten b/w drawings based on old wood cuts by Stanislaus Bender [?], yellowed paper with a few short tears. Hardbound. Good. Text is in Hebrew with parallel German translation on each page (71808)  Yudlov 2617.    $30.00

Heidenheim, W., translated into German by. Seder ha-Hagadah le-lel shimurim: meduyak hetev u-mesudar yafeh. Wien [Vienna], Druck und Verlag des Franz Edlen von Schmid und J.J. Busch, 1840. Neue illustrierte verbesserte Auflage. 16mo, brown cloth spine, black paper covered boards with mild edgewear, 24 dapim (48 pp.), foxing. Hardbound. Good. Text is in Hebrew with notes and instructions in Ivri-Taytsh (71829)   Yudlov 820.   $150.00

Israel, Abraham, illustrated by. Hagada shel Pesah/ Passover Haggadah. New York, Hebrew Publishing Company, 1959. Quarto in dust jacket torn along the spine, 160 pp., color illustrations throughout, many full page. With a non-authorial inscription over the free front endpaper. Hardbound. Good. A scarcely known illustrated Haggadah, but quite nice. In Hebrew and with an English translation on the facing pages by Sidney Hoenig (46283)      $40.00

Japhet, J.M. Ha-Hagada Le-Lel Shmorim. Haggadah für Pesach. Mit Übersetzung, deutschem Kommentar und musikalischen Beilagen. Frankfurt am Main, Verlag von J. Kauffmann, after 1903. Vierte Auflage. Small octavo, red cloth, printed paper covered boards, viii, 114, vi pp., with the music for Hodu, Ana, Ki Lo Na'eh, and Hasal Sidur Pesah. Yellowed paper. Hardbound. Very Good. Text is in Hebrew and Japhet's translation into German. Durchgesehen und verbessert von H. Schwab. (71811)

Lehmann, Marcus. Hagadah schel Pessach mit Erläuterungen von Dr. M Lehmann. Frankfurt am Main, Verlag von J. Kauffmann, 1918. Dritte, durchgesehene und aus dem Nachlasse des Verfassers erweiterte Auflage. Royal octavo, off-white cloth with black lettering (worn a little on the spine), b/w frontispiece photo, 211 pp., b/w illustrations.  Hardbound. Very Good. With the complete Hebrew text of the Haggadah, a German translation and extensive notes by Lehmann in German. (71816)  Yudlov 2691.   $50.00

Leone Modena; Isaac Abravanel. Seder Hagadah le-Fesah: ve-nitosaf ba-zeh kamah ma'alot tovot la-makom dinim ha-shayakhim le-hilkhot bedikat hamets u-vi'uro ve-hanhagot erev Pesah ... ve-gam ... perush Tseli esh ... ve-hu kitsur Zevah Pesah meha-rav Don Yitshak Abravanel ... asher yarad le-gano ve-liket ... Yehuda Ariyeh mi-Modena ... Amsterdam, Be-vet uvi-defus ha-meshutafim ... Hirts Levi Rofe ve-hatano Kosman, 1764/5. Octavo, later marbled covered boards cracked along the spine edges, ii, 32 dafim (64 pp.), decorative capitals, in-text illustrations, with the "sefokh" in large print from a wood-cut, plates are sharply and boldly printed though a few are cut off along the bottom edge.
   Hardbound. Good-. Text is in Hebrew and Ivri-Taytsh with commentary in Hebrew printed in Rashi script. (71827)  Yudlov 244.    $950.00

Leone Modena; Isaac Abravanel. Seder Hagadah shel Pesah: oder Fartrag oyf di beyden ershten abende fon Pesah oyf naye ins rayne Daytshe iberzetst und mit nittslikhe anmerkungen ferzehen ve-gam hidpasnu be-tokhah rov dinim ha-shayakhim le-halakhot bedikat hamets u-biuro, ve-hanhagat erev Pesah be-khulo yomav, ve-seder korban Pesah be-hikrivo, ve-halakhot le-seder shel Pesah ke-ra'ui oyf rize zind reyne Deytshe Iberzetst und mit Gute Anmerkungen ferzehen Od tematse bah ta'am li-sheboah perush Tseli Esh, ve-hu kitsur Zevah Pesah, meha-rav Don Yitshak Abravanel, asher yarad le-gano ve-lakat be-maspik leha-din be-ferusho ... ha-gaon ... Yehudah Ariyeh me-Modina ... ve-hosafnu bah kamah devarim melukat'im mi-Sefer Akedah umi-ferush Ba'al Olelot Efrayim ve-gam perush al Had Gadya meha-mehaber Mateh Aharon .z"l. Fyorda [Feurth], Ba-bayit uva-defus ha-torani ... Itsek ben David Tsirendorf, 1803/4. Octavo, worn quarter leather with loss to the leather of the open corners, shelfworn dull green marbled paper covered boards, ii, 25 dafim (50 pp.), daf heh (5) worn with minor loss at the heel. Hardbound. Good-. Text is in Hebrew and Ivri-Taytsh. (71825)   Yudlov 471.   $195.00

Narkiss, Bezalel, introduced by. The Golden Haggadah: a fourteenth-century illuminated Hebrew manuscript in the British Museum. Facsimile and Companion volume.

 London, Eugrammia Press Limited & the Trustees of The British Museum, 1970. Facsimile: Royal octavo, tooled brown leather on boards and spine, gold lettering on black cartouches on the spine, 2-101 double sided pp. reproducing the entirety of the original manuscript, colophon pasted-down to the rear pastedown endpaper. Housed in a blue cloth covered slip-case. Companion volume: Royal octavo, red cloth with gold lettering, x, 86 pp., b/w photos, List of names for Haggadoth mentioned, list of abbreviations, general index, index of manuscripts. Hardbound. Very Good.  

Colophon reads "This facsimile is published in Great Britain by The Eugrammia Press, 20 Albert Embankment London SE1 and the Trustees of THE BRITISH MUSEUM, London WC1. * It has been printed by LOUIS VAN LEER AND CO LTD of Amsterdam Holland on paper specially made by TULLIS RUSSELL AND CO LTD of Markinch FIFE and Supplied by LEPARD AND SMITHS LTD. * Colour transparencies were made by PETER PARKINSON AIBP. * The gold blocking in the work of ACE DISPLAY BLOCKING from brasses made by T. MACKRELL AND CO using gold supplied by GEORGE M. WHILEY LTD. * The binding is by ZAEHNSDORF LTD. * The edition is limited to 520 copies of which 20 unnumbered copies are not for sale* This is copy number ...." The haggadah is Brit. Mus. Additional 27, 2I0. The contents can be divided into three sections: first miniatures, then the actual Haggadah and finally, in the largest section, a collection of piyyutim. The piyyutim appear in a section between the miniatures and the Haggadah and then from the 56th daf to the end. The piyyutim and the other material appears to be the work of the same scriptorium but not of the same scribe. The presence of this large collection of piyyutim supports a theory that the work was created for a cantor.


The companion volume includes a catalog of subject matter of the illustrated portions of the Haggadah.          

There are large capitals and smaller capitals along with illustrated devices throughout in addition to the narritive illustrations. (71819)      $1350.00


Offenbacher Haggadah. Offenbach, Germany, Verlag des herausgebers Doktor Guggenheim, 1927. Quarto, blue leather covered boards, 97 (i) pp., hand-colored illustrations by Kritz Kredel, music in notation printed in black and red. Hardbound. Very Good. Text is in German and Hebrew.
"The Offenbach Haggadah was commissioned by Dr. Siegfried Guggenheim (1873-1961) an attorney and avid collector of rare books in Offenbach, near Frankfurt. The type designer Rudolf Koch created new fonts and the painter Fritz Kredel, a student of Koch’s, illustrated the new Haggadah inspired by the first Offenbach Haggadah which was printed in 1772. The new version was published in 1927 by the brothers Klingspor in a bibliophile edition of 300 copies. Guggenheim translated the Hebrew text into German, provided the transliterations of the Hebrew blessings and also inserted a novelty into the service. Instead of ending with “next year in Jerusalem, the Offenbach Haggadah concludes with the words:'next year in Worms on the Rhine, our home.'" from the Leo Baeck website.

Colophon reads "Von dieser haggadah kommen dreihundert Stücke in den handel. Dieses Buch wurde gedruckt von der Buchdruckeri heinrich Cramer, Offenbach am Main in der von Professor Rudolf Koch geschnitten Bibelgotisch der Schriftgiesserei Gebr. Klingspor, Offenbach am Main. Die hand=ausgemalten Bilder schnitt Fritz Kredel nach seiner Zeichnung in holz. Den hebräischen Satz lieserte die firma J. Kauffmann in Frankfurt am Main. Den Druck gestaltete Max Dorn, Offenbach am Main." An un-numbered copy. (71815)  Yudlov 3054.    $600.00

Rashi; Samuel ben Meir; Isaac Abravanel; Moses Alshekh; Isaiah Horowitz; Joseph ben Abraham Gikatilla, et al. Seder Hagadah shel Pesah: im harbeh perushim yekarim... : perush Rashi, perush ha-Rashbam, perush Yitshak Abravanel, perush ha-Alshekh, perush ha-Shelah, perush Tsofnat paneah ... mi-Yosef Gikatilya ... [et al.]. Warsaw, Bi-defus P. Lebenzohn, 1877. Octavo, worn leather spine and worn corners with the loss of the rear open corner, marbled paper covered boards with a cut-out paper heart at the center of the front board, 72 pp., yellow staining at the edges. Hardbound. Good. Text is in Hebrew. Yudlov 1686 [?] (71828)      $75.00

Seder ha-Hagadah shel Pesah, im Kamah Ma'alot Tovot Le-Makom Dinim Ha-Shi'ikhim La-Pesah, Halakhot Hamets u-Bi'euran ve-hanhagut ereve Pesah be-Khulo Yamo, ve-Khol Halakhot Seder Pesah Le-Seder Ke-Re'ehu al pi Simano be-Inyan She-En Tsarikh Le-Hapesh: Fortrag oyf di beiden abende Pesah...: dinim ha-shayakhim le-Fesah. Hannover, Verlag und druck der Telgener'schen hofbuchdruckerei, 1860/1. Fierte Fermehrte und Ferbezzerte oyflage. Octavo, dark green cloth spine, edgeworn black cloth covered boards, 32 dapim (64 pp.), foxing throughout. Hardbound. Good. Text is in Hebrew with translation, instructions and notes in Ivri Taytsh (71830)      $180.00

Skulski, Shelomoh. Hagadah shel Pesah im mador me-yahad le-yeladim "ve-hagadat le-vinkha." Orekh al-yadai shas. Tel Aviv, Hotsa'at Yavneh, 1955. Small quarto, white plastic covers with gold lettering, 56 pp., color illustrations by Z. Livni.

Hardbound. Very Good. Text is in Hebrew. (71818)  Yudlov 4455.   $95.00

Steinhardt, Jacob, Woodcuts by. Hagadah shel Pesah. Berlin, Ferdinand Ostertag Verlag, 1923. Small quarto, black cloth spine, black paper covered boards with silver lettering and with soiling, ii, 48 pp., b/w woodcuts throughout, soiling at the edges of many of the later pages.  Hardbound. Very Good. Text is in Hebrew. Lettering by Franzisca Baruch. In an edition of 250 copies.
The original limited edition of 200 copies was immediately sold out and was so well received that this 1923 edition was published in a smaller, more popular version. “Jakob Steinhardt (1887 - 1968), a major figure in modern Jewish art, is best known for his expressive use of the woodcut.  He worked from 1912 on in the German Expressionist style he had begun to use in Berlin, refining it with technical innovations after settling in Jerusalem in 1934. (71817)   Yudlov 2888.  $250.00

An oddity - Not quite Judaica, but close. King Solomon's "first" Temple by E. Cromwell Mensch..

            What I am willing to call a Jewish book is very broad-minded and "ecumenical." However, periodically one of my book scouts or fellow book dealers bring me a book that is a coukoo's egg. There are some odd Christian items that seem Jewish like the anti-Semitic works of David L. Cooper, the bible study material of the old Jehovah's Witness movement or various works of the British Israelite movement.  King Solomon's 'first' Temple, falls into yet another genre. As the author says on the front flap, "It has to do with the planning and building of the original House of God, which still stands today after some 3,200 years. The story was written by Moses, and the House was planned in collaboration with Amalek, the architect. The project dealt with an entirely new conception of God, a thesis so radical for its day, it violated all the rules of Orthodoxy."
             In the preface the author states:
            "The conception of this book was the outgrowth of a research in the origins of secret societies. The most intriguing part of that research was the discovery of a legend to the effect that Sir Francis Bacon [what is a secret society/ conspiracy theory without Bacon] had founded such an order. In the same bracket of time is found the Hampton Court conference of King James I, of England. From this conference evolved the revision of the text of the Bible, which is now known as the King James' version. The coincidence in point of time with the Hampden Court conference imposed the enigma of whether the legendary existence of Bacon's society was actually founded in fact. If it did have a factual existence the question then became one of what passage of the Bible Bacon fastened upon to build his secret society.
            In seeking for a solution, the most logical passage seemed to be one centering around the building of King Solomon's Temple. Solomon sought to build into his Temple a cloak of permanency which he believed Moses had only temporarily attained in his tabernacle. Further research dictated the discarding of the Temple in favor of the tabernacle...
            ... To that end, each page of manuscript was measured out to fifty-two lines, and the right hand margin justified on the typewriter. Once the page was thus measured and spaced, any editing would have thrown such an arrangement out of balance with the sequence of the drawings."

            In addition to Francis Bacon the King James translation of the Bible is another odd obsession. It is widely believed in some Christian circles that the King James version is the only acceptable English translation of the [Christian] Bible and insists on the various mistranslations that have generated subsequent theological ideas and practices. Our author seems to have a diametrically opposed obsession, believing that the King James is hiding something.
            Another idea that sometimes comes my way are items promoting the African Origin of Civilization. It is an idea that certainly has strong archaeological support. However, Oldevai Gorge and the Nile Basin are different places. There is an idea that the Egyptians of the great age of the pharaohs were a dark skinned people whose great wisdom was hidden, stolen or lost. While it certainly is a possibility that there were dark-skinned Egyptians the painted ceramics of the time indicate a more multi-racial society. The publications that I have picked up that promote this view relied on Rosicrucian and Masonic sources for the most part. Both are themselves "secret societies," though very slightly by comparison with the conspiracy that Mr. Mensch feels he has discovered. Below are a couple of images in the section of  King Solomon's 'first' Temple that discussed the Egyptian aspect of the "truth."

I have to admit that I personally believe that there is a possible mystical reading of the Torah portions that describe the dimensions of the Mishkan and the methods of construction. As the Mishkan is God's home address here on earth I do believe that it is important to try to make as much as can be made of these parts of the Torah. Our author, picking up on the idea that the Mishkan is the center of holiness on earth and extrapolated from this the larger universe emanating from that spot. Below are a couple of the many images that deal with that aspect of his theory.

Another hobby horse that comes into play is American Spiritual exceptionalism. This is a bit like British Israelism, but considers the nation special rather than just the leaders of the nation. Below are a couple of images relating to that.

In a very convoluted theory that includes the idea that the Israelite journey in the desert really had Mecca as its destination the author finds that the truest temple is actual the complex around the Kabba stone in Mecca and the stones themselves are the true tablets of Moses. Though aware of the Dome of the Rock, the author

focuses the vast majority of his energy on the Kabba stone. The location of the Kabba stone, the author believes, goes back the full 3,200 years he discussed. Thus the "Temple" there is the real temple and in fact does still exist. Our Menschlikh author believes that all of the faiths have done their part to bring the benefits of a true understanding of God to light through their attempts to manifest it architecturally here on earth. He believes that Jesus had the greatest spiritual understanding of the House of God, but that the residents of the Arabian peninsula had the correct location and ultimately built the best iteration of that House here on earth.
                The author is a bit obsesses with cubes and appears to have fallen pray to another more common bug-a-boo. He seems to believe that is is impossible that spiritually the Jews could have gotten it right. This notion, such a mainstay of Christian theology, was doctrine of the Catholic Church into the 1960s. The Higher Criticism is the ax that Protestantism wielded against the belief that Jewish tradition was special, genuine or "authentic." The author's name appears to be an obvious pseudonym. But perhaps I'm wrong. The author's other works that I have located are: The Golden Gate bridge: a technical description in ordinary language; San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge: a technical description in ordinary language, and Alcatraz. However, the generally positive approach of the author to all of the faiths he discusses seems to me to fit well with the open-minded atmosphere of San Francisco where that book was published and where it was also sold and purchased by a reader. We can see on the rear endpaper the bookseller's ink stamp on the rear endpaper. This copy of the book was sold by the Compass Bookstore, a well-known retailer in the 40s. I was still able to find it in a 1998 directory of San Francisco booksellers. By that time it limited itself to used and out-of-print material.
                Actual copies of the book are uncommon. Over a dozen libraries hold copies. However, I found only one other copy available. A number of print-on-demand operations have found this title and offer it for sale. If you know me at all you know my opinion of those artless artifacts.
               I cataloged the book this way:
Mensch, E. Cromwell. King Solomon's "first" Temple. San Francisco, California, E. Cromwell Mensch - Author, Publisher, 1947. First Edition. Octavo in dust jacket, 372 pp., b/w maps and drawings, The Index of Moses, index. Hardbound. Very Good.  (71648)      $95.00
               For now my very nice copy of this eccentric and not quite on point for me title is still available.