Bidspirit auction | (AUSTRIA). Chamishah Chumshei Torah [Pentateuch],

(AUSTRIA). Chamishah Chumshei Torah [Pentateuch], with Megiloth and Haphtaroth. And commentaries. RARE COURT-ROOM HEBREW BIBLE. Five parts in one volume with five title pages. Pages of Vayikra (Leviticus) hand-numbered up to p. 38 (see below). ff. 74, 72, 53, 62, 70.Lightly browned. Contemporary calf-backed marbled boards, rubbed. 4to. Vinograd, Vienna 157. Vienna, Anton Schmid, [1800]. TIPPED IN FRONT: MANUSCRIPT DOCUMENT  Dated 17th March 1808, signed by the esteemed Rabbi of Prague, Eliezer Fleckeles, with official seal, noting this Bible to be used in Courts of Law to administer the Oath to Jewish witnesses.      WITH ADDITIONAL MANUSCRIPT DOCUMENT  Signed by Karl Fischer, the appointed Censor of Hebrew Books in the city of Prague indicating which page is to be opened when administering the Oath (p. 38 of Leviticus, Chap. 26, verse 1).     Fischer was on friendly terms with Fleckeles, indeed, the use of the Hebrew Bible within the secular court system would appear to be a direct result of inquiries made by Fischer to Fleckeles regarding the validity of a Jew’s oath to a gentile. This communication appears in “Teshuvah Me’ahavah” Part I (1809) Fleckeles’ noteworthy volume of responsa, number 26. AN INTERESTING RELIC OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN JEWS AND THE SECULAR COURT-SYSTEM.