Ashkenazi Rite Machzor - Augsburg, 1536

Machzor according to Ashkenazi rite - prayers and piyyutim for the Three Festivals, the Four Parashiot and the High Holidays. [Augsburg: Chaim son of David Shachor, 1536]. Copy lacking 28 leaves. Censorship deletions on several leaves. Glosses in Ashkenazic script on several leaves (mostly consisting of completions or corrections of the text, and some instructions and customs). [231] leaves. Originally: [255] leaves. Altogether lacking: 24 leaves at the beginning and end of the Machzor (gatherings of 6 leaves each. This copy comprises gatherings 3-40 - complete, a leaf of gathering 1, and four leaves of gathering 41). 29.5 cm. Varying condition. Most leaves in good condition, with stains and dampstains. Several leaves in fair condition, with stains, tears and wear. Repaired tears in several places. Worming to several leaves. Large open tears to several leaves, affecting text. Some leaves were presumably replaced from a different copy. Old, elegant leather binding, with embossed floral motifs. The printer R. Chaim Shachor was one of the first printers in Prague, and he left the city following a dispute between printers. He first settled in Oels (present day Oleśnica, Poland) and began printing there, but his printing press in Oels was destroyed in a storm. R. Chaim Shachor then relocated to Augsburg (Germany), where he printed Hebrew books. He printed his books, including this Machzor, in an Ashkenazic-style square typeface, similar to the typeface used in Prague, unlike other printers who used a Sephardic-style typeface.