Strack, Hermann L.

The Jew and Human Sacrifice: [Human Blood and Jewish Ritual] An Historical and Sociological Inquiry

London: Cope and Fenwick, 1909. First English Edition, translated from the eighth German edition. Tall octavo, 289 pages, publisher's original gilt-lettered red cloth covered boards. Hermann L. Strack’s The Jew and Human Sacrifice: [Human Blood and Jewish Ritual] An Historical and Sociological Inquiry is an important scholarly examination of the blood libel, the false accusation that Jews used Christian blood in religious ceremonies or committed ritual murder. Published in English in 1909 from the revised eighth German edition, with corrections, a new preface, and additional material by the author, the book surveys Jewish law, biblical and rabbinic teachings concerning blood, historical ritual-murder accusations, legal proceedings, folklore, and the social conditions that allowed such charges to spread. Strack, a German Protestant theologian and respected scholar of Judaism, demonstrates that Jewish religious law explicitly forbids the consumption or ritual use of blood and argues that blood-libel allegations were founded on superstition, prejudice, coerced testimony, and fabricated evidence rather than fact. Despite its potentially misleading title, the work is not antisemitic; its central purpose is to defend Jewish communities against one of the most persistent and destructive antisemitic myths. Although some terminology reflects the period in which it was written, the book remains significant for the study of antisemitism, Jewish-Christian relations, religious polemics, sociology, legal history, and the scholarly effort to discredit ritual-murder accusations. Some fraying along hinges, some discoloration to the cloth, some age toning and discoloration, slight rubbing and wear, else in good + condition. Item #458

Price: $2,500.00