Bidspirit auction | (HASKALAH). CHRISTIAN KONRAD WILHELM VON

(HASKALAH). CHRISTIAN KONRAD WILHELM VON DOHM . Riforma Politica degli Ebrei [”Improving the Civil State of Jews.”] Mantua, Virgiliana, 1807. FIRST EDITION IN ITALIAN. pp. xiv, 258, (2). Wider margins. Lightly foxed, ink stain on title. Contemporary boards, spine split. 8vo. As a liberal minded Enlightenment advocate, and warmed by his friendship with Moses Mendelssohn, Christian Wilhelm von Dohm (1751-1820) advocated for full Jewish political and civil emancipation. Von Dohm acknowledged many of the ”negative characteristics” of Jews that were troubling to liberal minded Enlightenment philosophers - clannish and unsociable behaviors, moral corruption, unproductive and primarily commercial occupations - but he argued these traits were the product of centuries of oppression by Christians and the coercive power of Talmudic Judaism over the Jewish community. Dohm believed emancipation would pave the way for Jewish assimilation into Enlightenment society.   See:  https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/5256-dohm-christian-wilhelm-von.