Rare Printed Books,
Manuscripts, Autograph Letters,
Photographs, Graphic & Ceremonial Arts
And Featuring: A Significant Offering Relating to Jews in the American Civil War.
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LOT 47:
JOSEPH SCHWARZ. A Descriptive Geography and Brief ...
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Start price:
$
1,000
Estimated price :
$2,000 - $3,000
Buyer's Premium: 25%
sales tax: 8.875% On the full lot's price and commission
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JOSEPH SCHWARZ. A Descriptive Geography and Brief Historical Sketch of Palestine. Translated from the Hebrew by ISAAC LEESER. Illustrated with Maps and Numerous Engravings.
FIRST AMERICAN EDITION AND FIRST EDITION IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. English interspersed with Hebrew. Frontispiece portrait of author, foldout maps of Land of Israel, lithographed views of Holy Places. AN UNCOMMONLY BRIGHT COPY, IN THE ORIGINAL BINDING.
pp. xxii, (2), 17-518, (1), (1 blank). Blank corner torn on p. ix, stamp on title. Original gilt-tooled boards. 4to. Later slip-case.
Singerman 1161.
Philadelphia, C. Sherman, 1850.
This work first appeared in Hebrew under the title Tevu’oth Ha’Aretz in 1845. Four years later, the author, Joseph Schwarz, visited the United States as a rabbinical emissary from the Holy Land. Whilst in America, Schwarz arranged for the Rev. Isaac Leeser to translate Tevu’oth Ha’Aretz into English.
Leeser was well cognizant of the pioneering status of the new book and proudly stated: “The execution of the whole…is the work of Jewish writers and artists, the drawings being executed by Mr. S. Shuster, a lithographer belonging to our Nation” (translator’s preface, p. viii).
Leeser published the volume to “extend the knowledge of Palestine…and also to enkindle sympathy and kind acts for those of our brothers, who still cling to the soil of our ancestors” (translator’s preface, pp. viii-ix).
“PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT JEWISH WORK ISSUED IN AMERICA UP TO THAT TIME.” (JE, VOL. XI, P. 119).
