A Treasury of Jewish Folklore - edited by Nathan Ausubel
A Treasury of Jewish Folklore
Stories, Traditions, Legends, Humor, Wisdom and Folk Songs of the Jewish People
Stories, Traditions, Legends, Humor, Wisdom and Folk Songs of the Jewish People
Bibliographic Specifications
- Title: A Treasury of Jewish Folklore
- Editor: Nathan Ausubel
- Publisher: Crown Publishers, Inc., New York
- Publication Date: 1977 Cycle / Edition
- ISBN-13: 9780517502938 (ISBN-10: 0517502933)
- Edition Details: Vintage Hardcover Release.
- Binding: Original publisher's premium textured clothboards with gold/gilt-stamped typography to the spine; complete with original illustrated dust jacket.
- Physical Format: Thick Octavo (8vo), xxiv, 741 pages. Comprehensive text layout featuring a detailed glossary of Yiddish and Hebrew words, an exhaustive index, and 12 pieces of fully arranged musical scores and sheet music.
- Language: English (with original Yiddish and Hebrew terms transliterated)
Official Condition Report
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The Book: Very Good (VG)
- Exterior / Boards: The original hardcovers are structurally square, rigid, and firm. Corners are well-preserved with only trace shelf friction. The substantial spine remains completely unbroken, upright, and undamaged, firmly holding the thick 741-page text block.
- Interior: The pages are remarkably clean, crisp, and intact throughout. The text block is bright white and completely free of reader underlining, modern highlighters, dealer pencil notations, or dog-ears.
- Provenance: Pristine collector's state; entirely free of previous owner signatures, library institutional stamps, or ex-libris attachments.
- Protection: Carefully preserved and safely enclosed within a custom archival-grade protective cellophane sleeve.
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The Dust Jacket: Very Good (VG)
- Condition: Clean and complete. Displays some limited signs of vintage edge wear and small, historically fixed tears along the margins, entirely consistent with careful handling of a heavy reference volume over the decades. Free of prominent sun-fading or major chips.
Synopsis & Historical Value
Originally published in 1948 and reissued in this classic 1977 edition by Crown Publishers, A Treasury of Jewish Folklore remains the definitive, foundational anthology of Jewish cultural memory. Meticulously edited by renowned scholar Nathan Ausubel, this massive volume contains more than 800 traditions, legends, parables, humorous anecdotes, wise proverbs, and folk songs that have shaped the identity of the Jewish people across millennia.
The collection covers an immense literary and cultural spectrum—ranging from ancient Talmudic and Midrashic lore, through the witty, satirical humor of the Eastern European shtetl, to the profound spiritual parables of Hasidic masters. Rather than serving as a static historical record, the anthology captures the living oral spirit of a global diaspora. It includes 12 pieces of authentic sheet music, allowing readers to experience the melodies alongside the stories. Complete with an accessible glossary of Yiddish and Hebrew words, this family treasure continues to be a favorite gift-giving item and an essential volume for serious collectors of global folklore, theological history, and Judaica literature.
Author Profile: Nathan Ausubel
Nathan Ausubel (1898–1986) was a highly distinguished Jewish-American historian, folklorist, and anthologist. Over a long and celebrated academic career, he dedicated his life to documenting, preserving, and translating the vast oral and written heritage of the Jewish diaspora. His landmark publications—including A Treasury of Jewish Humor and The Book of Jewish Knowledge—are internationally praised by academics for combining meticulous archival research with an accessible narrative pace that keeps ancient traditions vibrant for contemporary readers.
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