Korban Minha.
[Judaica]. Korban Minha. Vilna: 1882.
8vo.; printed in Hebrew; title page in Hebrew and Russian; a.e.g.; full ivory binding; elaborate ivory initials affixed to cover; two ivory clasps.
A magnificent relic. This 1882 prayerbook, in fine condition, was specially bound in fine ivory as a wedding gift to a bride, by an artist on commission. A Jewish bride would traditionally receive a Korban Minah on her wedding day from her bridegroom’s family, and it would accompany her for her entire life. Wealthy families used to present their brides with magnificent editions of this prayerbook, bound in luxurious bindings generally made of leather with golden tooled lettering; fine fabrics; or even silver. The use of ivory in bookbinding is rare and quite extraordinary. Ivory was chosen for this occasion evidently because of its creamy color, reminiscent of the white bridal gown. Decorating the front of this volume is the bride’s monogram in ivory Latin letters.
The well known prayerbook, Korban Minha, was designed for Jewish women not overly familiar with Hebrew and therefore in need of a Yiddish translation of the holy texts. The original Hebrew prayers were printed on the upper parts of the pages, the lower parts containing a literal translation of the prayers into the European German-Jewish vernacular. The present book is the most complete edition of the Korban Minah prayerbook. It was printed in Vilna in 1882 at the Romm family press, which served as the main publishing center of Jewish classics in the nineteenth century. The best known example of the Romm publications is their Talmud set (1886) which serves as an example and a model for all Talmud editions up to the present time.
The Korban Minha prayerbook includes all the usual prayers recited on weekdays, Sabbaths, festivals and the High Holy Days. It also contains the entire Book of Psalms. Furthermore, this prayerbook has special prayers for women known as Tehinnoth (Supplications), including prayers for successful matchmaking, an easy birth, success in bringing up healthy children, and success in married life. The Korban Minha prayerbook was popular amongst Jewish women in Eastern Europe, who used to pray from it at home or take it with them to the synagogue.
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