The First Haggdah in the World in English – a Historical Item from the Early Days of the Jewish Community of ...

The First Haggdah in the World in English – a Historical Item from the Early Days of the Jewish Community of England – London, 1770 – Extremely Rare

Passover Haggadah according to the Ashkenazic custom, with English translation. London, [1770]. Translated, Edited and printed by A. Alexander, a resident of London. Hebrew and English page-by-page, with Yiddish instructions. Ya'ari 167; Yudelov, 257.
The laws and explanations are written in English. To the Piyyutim at the end of the Haggadah and Seder Sefirat Ha'Omer, a Hebrew-Teitch translation was added instead of the English translation.
This is the first Haggadah in the world that was printed with an English translation! After it, dozens of English editions of the haggadah were printed.
The Haggadah is in an impressive case.

The Rarity of the Haggadah
That same year, a Sephardic version of the Haggadah was printed for the Sepahrdic Jews who lived in England. However, the Haggadah before us is according to the Ashekenazic custom and is much rarer.
Moreover, it can be reasonably assumed that it was printed before the "Sephardic Haggadah" (See enclosed material),
The rarity of this important Haggadah is also indicated by the fact that it does not appear in public libraries in Israel, not even the national Library. The Bibliography of the Hebrew Book states that "We have seen only a photocopy of the title page". Thus, the Haggadah before us is one of the rarest in the world.
The Historical Significance of the Haggadah
Beside it being the first English Haggadah, the Haggadah has additional aspects making it historically significant:
This is the first Haggadah that was printed in England (both in Hebrew and in English).
This Haggadah is one of the first Hebrew books that were printed in England by Jews. This point was noted by several bibliographers. Naftali Ben Menachem notes that this Haggadah "Is of great value in itself due to it being one of the first Hebrew books printed in England".
This Haggadah is one of the first five Hebrew books in the world that were translated into English. (It is most likely that it is the only one of them that had survived).
To conclude, the Haggadah before us is practically a milestone in the history of Hebrew printing in general and that of the Passover Haggadah in particular.
In addition, it has historical significance since it is related to the arrival of Jews in England, as will be described hereinafter.

Historical Background
The Jewish community of London developed gradually for generations. At first, only a few Jews arrived in London and the community encountered many troubles until it became the community it is today.
The Jews of London are mentioned for the first time during the coronation of Richard I of England ("Richard the Lionheart") in 1115. During the following years, the Jews of London suffered riots and persecutions, which reached their peak in 1290, when all the Jews were expelled from England. Before the expulsion, many synagogues were confiscated and turned into churches. In addition, Jewish property was expropriated.
The first Jews returned to England only in 1656.
In 1766, the leaders of the Jewish community of London decided to establish a committee to take care of Jewish matters. Most of the first Jews to return to England three hundred years ago were Sephardic. After them came refugees from Russia and other European countries. At first there were many disputes between the Sephardic and Ashkenazic communities. Each of the communities had its own synagogues and educational institutions. The first synagogue that was built in London was a Sephardic one (in 1702) while the Ashkenazic synagogue was built twenty years later (in 1722).
The Jews that settled in England did not have civil rights and therefore could not purchase real estate. The process enabling the Jews of England to receive British citizenship was gradual and began only in 1740. Until 1770, Jews were forbidden to work as printers, according to the anti-Semite law.
Only in 1770, the law was abolished what led to the establishment of a Hebrew printing house in London (where approximately ten thousand Jews lived at the time). The Haggadah before, which was one of the first books printed by the Hebrew printing press, actually expressed the freedom of the English Jews.
The person who established the Hebrew printing house in England was a Jew who was a resident of London named Alexander Alexander. Untul the, Hebrew compositions were not printed by Jews for Jews. Alexander was the one who printed the Haggadah before us in the winter of 1770, the year the first Hebrew printing house in England was established.
Due to the success of Alexander's printing house, that year, two more printing houses were established in London, yet they did not survive. In the little time they operated, they printed mainly Siddurim. In contrast, Alexander's printing house prospered for many years. After his death, his son inherited the printing house and continued his work until 1830, when the printing house closed.

The rarest book since the outset of Hebrew printing in England
It should be noted that until recently, bibliographers considered the book "Toldot Ya'akov" to be the first book that was printed by a Hebrew printing house in England. As such it was presented often in auctions. However, actually, the Haggadah before us was printed before it since the author of the above book signs his preface on the 18th of Iyar 1770 and the Haggadah before us was printed in the winter of that year.
The Haggadah before us is thus the rarest book that was printed during the first year of the printing of Hebrew books in England and as stated, it does not exist in any library in Israel.
43 leaves. Four leaves that were missing were professionally completed.
Enclosed is material on the significance of the Haggadah.
Condition: Good. Time stains and wine stain. Typical wear due to use. New, impressive leather binding with a golden impression. The Haggadah is in an impressive case. A wonderful item!