PENTATEUCH - LIPMAN CALMER Ḥamishah ḥumshe Torah vehu tiqun sofrim im perush Rashi ve-Abravanel (The Five Books of the Torah with glosses for the scribes and commentaries by Rashi and Abrabanel), Amsterdam, Leib b. Moshe Soesmans, 1768. Frontispieces engraved in intaglio, depicting liturgical synagogue scenes, by Aaron Santcroos. 5 vols. in-4, period binding, full granite calf, fillets and fleurons on boards, five-rib spine decorated with gilt fillets and fleurons, gilt title on beige calf, owner's name gilt on tail, blue edges, green ribbon binding straps (minor scuffing on headpieces, otherwise a very fine copy in strictly period condition). Provenance: Lipman Calmer, whose name (CALMER) appears in gilt lettering at the tail of the spines of all five volumes, and as a handwritten bookplate in Hebrew (Lipman b'r Kalmer z'l) on the title-pieces of all volumes. This exceptional Jewish liturgical Bible belonged to the most famous French Jew of the 18th century: Lipman (or Liefmann) Calmer (1711 - 1784), the first French Jewish nobleman. Born in Aurich, Hanover, he settled in Paris, where he made his fortune in trade and became official supplier to Louis XV. In 1769, he was granted French nationality and in 1774 acquired the barony of Picquigny with feudal privileges, including the right to appoint priests. This earned him the wrath of the Church, and the sale was cancelled. Calmer was administrator of "German" Jews in Paris. See Isidore Loeb, "Un baron juif français au XVIIIe siècle", in Annuaire des Archives Israélites, 1885-1886, p.136. As befits its owner, this set is remarkable for the beauty of its binding and printing, which place it among the most elegant editions of the Pentateuch for liturgical use (Torah and Haftarot) of the 18th century. It features engraved frontispieces by the Jewish painter, illuminator and engraver Aaron Santcroos (Vinograd 1951).