De Wandelende Jood [The Wandering Jew]. A game board based on the book "The Wandering Jew" by Eugene Sue. Amsterdam: De Erve Wijsmuller, [second half of the 19th century]. Dutch and French.
A hand-colored lithographic game board consisting of a track of 63 stations, with illustrations after scenes from "The Wandering Jew" (accompanied by short captions in French). Playing instructions are printed in the center of the board (in Dutch).
Approx. 40X53.5 cm. Good condition. Minor blemishes (especially to margins). Some stains on verso.

Handwritten document recording the expulsion of a Jew, a Turkish subject, from the Habsburgian Empire. [Vienna?, ca. late 18th century]. German.
The document records the punishment of expulsion that was imposed on a Jew of Turkish origin named Samuel Moyses, due to having intimate relations with a Christian woman. The document indicates that the Jew had been imprisoned for three months at the Vienna prison and was later was led to the Turkish border under military guard, via Semlin (Zemun), Serbia.
Written in the margin (in a different pen): "1778".
[1] leaf, 33.5 cm. Good condition. Fold lines.

Five essays by the rabbi and philosopher Elijah (Eliyahu) Benamozegh, dealing with Jewish theology. Various publishers and places of printing, 1865-1914, French, Italian and some Hebrew.
1. Storia degli Esseni [The History of the Cult of the Essenes]. Florence: Felice Le Monnier, 1865. Italian.
Detached gatherings, detached front cover, tears to spine.
2. Morale Juive et Morale Chrétienne [Jewish and Christian Ethics]. Paris: K. Kaufmann, 1867. French.
3. Pratique et institutions Hebraiques, an essay on the Hebrew language. Livorno: S. Belforte, 1898. French. Some Hebrew.
An article from the series Bibliothèque de l'Hébraisme; bound with additional articles from the series (incomplete).
Detached leaves and gatherings. Tears.
4. Teologia dogmatica e apologetica [Dogmatic and Apologetic Theology]. Livorno: Francesco Vigo Press, 1877. Italian and some Hebrew.
5. Israël et l'humanité [Israel and Humanity]. Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1914. French. With a picture of the author (plate).
Rabbi Elijah (Eliyahu) Benamozegh (1823-1900) was born in Livorno to a family of immigrants from Fes (Morocco). His grandfather was Rabbi Avraham Koriyat. At the age of 18 he was ordained a rabbi and served as the rabbi of Livorno for fifty years. Benamozegh was renowned for his vast knowledge of science and philosophy, which was integrated into his unique interpretative approach and worldview. His openness to the non-Jewish world incurred the wrath of several Jewish communities, and in Aleppo and Damascus, his books were publicly burned.
Size and condition vary. Stains, tears and blemishes.

Relazione curiosissima, ed insieme verissima del strano successo del preteso Messia degli Ebrei, il quale cagiono tanta commozione in quella Nazione, e termino poi farsi turco [A curious and at the same time true report of the surprising rise of the false messiah of the Jews…], by "Padre Beccaranda". Venice and Parma: Gozzi Press, [presumably, 1741 or 1742]. Italian.
A four-page booklet featuring a letter sent from Constantinople to Rome in order to announce Sabbatai Zevi's conversion to Islam.
This letter, which is considered one of the most important and earliest testimonies about Sabbatai Zevi's conversion, was presumably written as early as 1666 – several weeks after Sabbatai Zevi was imprisoned by the Ottoman authorities and converted to Islam. The letter, presumably distributed among the Jewish communities in an attempt to eradicate Sabbateanism, was printed in multiple editions throughout the 17th and 18th centuries (at least five editions were printed by 1667).
The writer briefly introduces Sabbatai Zevi's history and then describes at length the events that led to his conversion to Islam. The author states that he was an eye-witness to the events in Constantinople (In the text there are several hints of the author's presence at the events narrated) and that he got his information regarding previous events from reliable people. The opening lines indicate that the letter was written in response to a question by another person, whose name is not mentioned ("I answer the question made to me by Your Lordship about what happened to the Jew, who had posed as the Messiah").
This edition was published without indication of date; presumably, it was published only in 1741 – approximately 75 years [!] after Sabbatai Zevi's conversion to Islam (possibly indicating that the struggle against the Sabbateans continued even in such a late period).
Although the writer's full name is not indicated in any of the editions, this edition and some others mention the name "Padre Beccaranda", presumably referring to the Jesuit Jacques Becherand who lived in Constantinople between 1660 and 1667.
[1] f., folded in half (four printed pages), approx. 24.5 cm (uneven width). Stains, fold lines and small tears. Open tears along edges and fold lines (small, slightly affecting text). Abrasions, slightly affecting text. Notation on top of the title page.
For additional information about this letter and its various editions, see: Between Information and Proselytism: Seventeenth-century Italian Texts on Sabbatai Zevi, by Stefano Villani (in Daat: A Journal of Jewish Philosophy & Kabbalah, issue 82, Ramat-Gan: Bar Ilan University, 2016).
From the estate of Prof. Shlomo Simonsohn.