Shema Israel / The Spirit of Judaism, by Grace Aguilar edited by Isaac Leeser. Philadelphia: C. Sherman & Co., 5602 (1842). English.
A work in defense of Judaism, by the Jewish-British writer Grace Aguilar. The book was edited by Isaac Leeser and printed in Philadelphia, with introduction and comments by Leeser, in which he expresses his reservations regarding Aguilar's thoughts. The book was well received by Jews and by Christians alike and was used in several synagogues and even in Protestant churches.
Singerman 767.
On the front endpaper is an autograph inscription from 1842 by Jewish merchant Jacob Ezekiel (1812-1899), a prominent figure in the Jewish community of Richmond, Virginia: "This small volume is most respectfully presented, by his friend Jacob Ezekiel, Richmond. Va. United State of America, Sunday, May 1st 1842". Beneath the inscription is a note handwritten in Hebrew: "...Jacob son of Ezekiel, Gabbai [?]…".
Jacob Ezekiel was born in the city of Philadelphia in 1812, two years after his parents immigrated from Amsterdam to America. When he was 13, he was apprenticed to a bookbinder and in 1833 moved to the city of Baltimore to carry on the bookbinding business. From Baltimore he moved to Richmond, Virginia, where he ran a dry goods business. Shortly after his arrival in Richmond, he was elected secretary of the "Beth Shalom" synagogue, a position he held for about thirty years. In 1835 he married Catherine Myers Castro, who was also an immigrant from the Jewish community of Amsterdam, and over the years, the couple had fourteen children.
During the time he lived in Richmond, Jacob Ezekiel was involved in the affairs of the Jewish community of the town and in social and public activity for American Jews. He succeeded in bringing about the repeal of an order by the city council of Richmond according to which heavy fines were imposed on those violating the Christian Sabbath (later, due to his efforts, Jews were legally exempt from any penalty for violating the Christian Sabbath). Furthermore, in protest of anti-Semitic decisions reached in several Swiss cantons, he prevented the acceptance of a block of Swiss granite for the Washington Monument. In 1841, Ezekiel received a personal letter of apology from USA President John Tyler, after Tyler issued an official proclamation announcing the death of the previous president in which he referred to the citizens of the United States as a "Christian people".
In 1869, Jacob Ezekiel moved to Cincinnati, where he took part in founding the Union of American Hebrew Congregations and was a member of the board of directors of the Hebrew Union College. He took part in public activity for the American Jews until his death in 1899.
XII, 255 pp, approx. 20.5 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains (mainly on the endpapers). Creases. A long tear to upper part of one leaf, reinforced with tape. An open tear to the upper part of the same leaf (not affecting text). Several small tears along the edges. Stains, small tears and minor blemishes to inscription leaf (mounted to additional leaves, for restoration). New binding (with parts of the original binding). New endpapers alongside the original ones.
Literature: Jacob Ezekiel, in: Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, no. 9, 1901, pp. 160-163.

"Report of Sir Moses Montefiore Bart to the London Committee of Deputies of the British Jews on the Subject of his Mission to Rome" in an attempt to release Edgardo Mortara. Reproduction of the handwritten original (possibly written by a secretary). London, July 13, 1859. English.
Edgardo Mortara (1851-1940) was the son of a Jewish merchant from Bologna (then in the Papal State of Italy). When he was two years old, he fell sick and was secretly baptized by a Christian servant of the family, in an attempt to cure him. Several years later, the servant testified before the authorities that she had baptized him. Since at the time, the law forbade the raising of Christians by members of other faiths, Edgardo Mortara was taken from his family. All the family's attempts to bring their son back failed. Mortara was raised as a Catholic and in his adulthood entered the Augustinian Order. Later he even acted as a missionary in Germany and New York.
The Mortara case caused much outrage among Jewish communities and liberal groups in Europe and the USA. Several European governments as well as the USA government expressed their protest and asked to return Mortara to his family. The case was considered a constitutive event in European history and one of the factors that led to the establishment of the organization Alliance Israélite Universelle.
This report describes Moses Montefiore's trip to Rome, in 1859, in order to submit to Pope Pius IX a memorandum calling to release Mortara. It describes Montefiore's attempts to schedule a meeting with the Pope, his meetings with the British diplomat Odo Russell and his meeting with Cardinal Antonelli, to whom he eventually submitted the memorandum. Montefiore also notes in the report that his wife Judith and two of his friends, Gershon (Gershom) Kursheedt of New-Orleans and Dr. Thomas Hodgkin of London, accompanied him on his trip. The report was submitted by Montefiore to the London Committee of Deputies of the British Jews, the body that represented the Jews of Britain (whose president at the time was Montefiore).
7, [1] leaves, 32.5 cm (bound with string in their upper left corner). Good condition. Fold lines. Stains and tears, mostly small, to margins.

A letter by Moses Montefiore to the Chief Rabbi of the British Empire Nathan Marcus Adler. Scribal hand on official stationery, with a postscript handwritten and signed by Montefiore. Ramsgate (England), November 5640 (1879). English.
A letter dealing with a donation for the poor of Palestine. At the end of his letter, under his signature, Montefiore added several handwritten lines – greetings to Rabbi Adler.
Montefiore, who headed the Sephardic community of London, had a long-standing friendship with Rabbi Nathan Marcus Adler (1803-1890), the Chief Rabbi of the British Empire. The cordial relationship between them, which was accompanied by extensive correspondence, led to cooperation in a variety of community projects, among them raising funds for the Jewish Yishuv in Palestine. Adler, who by the power of his position as Chief Rabbi, headed the United Synagogue in London, an organization that united all the orthodox communities of Britain, gathered the funds raised by the synagogues and sent them to Palestine through Montefiore's representatives.
[1] leaf, 25.5 cm. Good condition. Fold lines and creases. Minor stains.