Philadelphia: Printed by Haswell, Barrington, and Haswell, 1837-1838. Item #42121

1st Edition. Gorgeous Period-style gilt-tooled leather. 8vo.
Vol. 1: "Part one - Prayers for the Whole Year" [siddur]. VII, 216, 216 pages.
Vol. 2: "Part 2 - Prayers for Rosh Hashana". 120, 121 page, 121 page.
Vol. 3: "Part 3 - Prayers for Yom Kippur". [4], 245, 246, [1], 3 pages.
Vol. 4: "Part 4 - Prayers for the Festival of Succot". 175, 176, [1] pages.
Vol. 5: "Part 5 - Prayers for Pesach and for Shavuot". 182, 182 pages.
Vol. 6 - Prayers for Fast Days". [4], 184, 186, [4], 12 pages.
Hebrew and English on facing pages, parallel pagination. Goldman 36; Singerman 630.       
The First Complete Machzor (Prayer Book Set for the full year) printed in America, a stunning complete set.       
Isaac Leeser (1806-1868) was a central leader of American Jewry in the mid-19th Century, the stalwart defender of Orthodoxy against the rise of the Reform movement. He was the head of the Jewish community of Philadelphia and acted as a cantor, philosopher publisher, and author of many sermons and essays. He was key in the founding Jewish institutions and publications central to the building of Judaism in America, including the original Jewish Publication Society, the Jewish Sunday School movement, and many key translations of Hebrew texts into English.       
As such, he was the first Jew to translate the Hebrew Bible into English, publishing The Five Books of Moses in 1845, followed by the full Twenty-Four Books of the Old Testament in 1853. His other major translation is that offered here, the first Machzor (Prayer Book set for the full year) published in America, in 1837-1838.Publication in this case was a complex project. Leeser based his new translation on an earlier London edition, improving upon both the English translation and the original Hebrew, which are presented in facing pages. Once the translation was ready for publication, he ordered new Hebrew types from Europe but could not find printers who were familiar with Hebrew–so he taught two Christian printers Hebrew in order to prepare them for the printing.       
In spite of the difficulties involved, all six volumes of the machzor set were published in a total of only 13 months. Leeser marketed his prayer book to audiences in both America and the British Empire and therefore included prayers on behalf of a monarch (British) and a republican government (America). The work also includes a fascinating two-page list of subscribers spanning the Eastern US as well as Jamaica at the end of Vol. VI. The same volume here includes interesting margin notes in pen from a period Rabbi or service leader.      
With an original run of only 500 sets, complete sets of the first edition such as this are very rare. The most recent American auction sale was a set at Christies in 2006 for $60,000.(A set sold at auction in 2016 overseas for just under $32,000).
SUBJECT(S): Seder -- Liturgy -- Texts. Passover -- Judaism -- Sephardic rite -- Fasts and feasts -- Judaism -- Liturgy -- Texts. Pa^que -- Liturgie -- Textes. Judai¨sme -- Rite sefardi -- Liturgie -- Textes. Fe^tes religieuses -- Seder -- Passover -- OCLC: 18532819.
All pages professionally washed before rebinding, the quality paper very clean and bright with beautiful marbled endpapers. Stunning matching blue leather binding with raised bands and gilt tooling in custom slipcase. Very Good+ Condition. Rarely found as a complete set. Gorgeous and important. (KH-1-1).