Auction 73 - Jewish and Israeli History, Culture and Art
Issue of the Newspaper Niles Weekly Register – Baltimore, 1825 – News Item about the Establishment of the Ararat City of Refuge for Jews
Opening: $400
Sold for: $500
Including buyer's premium
Issue no. 733 of the American newspaper Niles Weekly Register edited by Hezekiah Niles, with a news item about the establishment of the Ararat city of refuge for Jews on Grand Island (New York). Baltimore: William Ogden Niles, October 1, 1825. English.
An early issue of the important American newspaper Niles Weekly Register, reporting on the spread of the colonies westward, changes in the tobacco and cotton markets, commerce in Egypt and additional subjects. Appearing on p. 69 is a long contemptuous and mocking news item about the establishment of a new "National Home" for Jews on Grand Island – the city of Ararat. The item quotes from the speech of the initiator of the project, journalist Mordechai Manuel Noah, who declared himself a "governor and judge of Israel" – instructing all the Jews of the world to register as residents of the city, a declaration about American natives being the descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes, an announcement about a one dollar tax that will be imposed on the Jews of the world for the treasury of Ararat, and more.
The item begins with an apology: "We had some disposition to publish these things, but do not see how we should be fully justified in giving up so much room to an individual, employed to make the most out of the bargain which he has negotiated, for, most probably, some foreign speculators – Jews themselves, perhaps, who have no sort of objection to advance their own wealth at the cost of their fellows".
Ararat, the city of refuge for Jews, was intended to be built on Grand Island, New York. Its initiator, the Jewish-American journalist, diplomat and judge Mordechai Manuel Noah (1785-1851), purchased approximately one-third of the Island to build the city on, and in 1825 held an impressive ceremony at the Saint Paul Church in Buffalo, and, dressed in a purple cloak and a gold chain he had borrowed from a theater, gave a long speech in which he announced the establishment of the city. The project was a complete failure and subsequently, Noah devoted his efforts to building a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine.
[1], 66-80 pp, approx. 25.5 cm. Good condition. Stains. Minor creases. Closed tears and small open tears (to margins). Two leaves detached.
An early issue of the important American newspaper Niles Weekly Register, reporting on the spread of the colonies westward, changes in the tobacco and cotton markets, commerce in Egypt and additional subjects. Appearing on p. 69 is a long contemptuous and mocking news item about the establishment of a new "National Home" for Jews on Grand Island – the city of Ararat. The item quotes from the speech of the initiator of the project, journalist Mordechai Manuel Noah, who declared himself a "governor and judge of Israel" – instructing all the Jews of the world to register as residents of the city, a declaration about American natives being the descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes, an announcement about a one dollar tax that will be imposed on the Jews of the world for the treasury of Ararat, and more.
The item begins with an apology: "We had some disposition to publish these things, but do not see how we should be fully justified in giving up so much room to an individual, employed to make the most out of the bargain which he has negotiated, for, most probably, some foreign speculators – Jews themselves, perhaps, who have no sort of objection to advance their own wealth at the cost of their fellows".
Ararat, the city of refuge for Jews, was intended to be built on Grand Island, New York. Its initiator, the Jewish-American journalist, diplomat and judge Mordechai Manuel Noah (1785-1851), purchased approximately one-third of the Island to build the city on, and in 1825 held an impressive ceremony at the Saint Paul Church in Buffalo, and, dressed in a purple cloak and a gold chain he had borrowed from a theater, gave a long speech in which he announced the establishment of the city. The project was a complete failure and subsequently, Noah devoted his efforts to building a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine.
[1], 66-80 pp, approx. 25.5 cm. Good condition. Stains. Minor creases. Closed tears and small open tears (to margins). Two leaves detached.
Americana
Americana