Auction 58 - Rare and Important Items
"Mikveh Israel", Work by Menasseh Ben Israel on the Subject of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel and Redemption - Amsterdam, 1650 - First Edition
Opening: $5,000
Unsold
Mikveh Israel, Esto es Esperanca de Israel, by Menasseh Ben Israel. Amsterdam: Semuel Ben Israel Soeiro (son of Menasseh Ben Israel), 5410 [1650]. First edition. Spanish and some Hebrew.
In this work, Menasseh Ben Israel addresses the subject of the ten lost tribes of Israel, their identification with the Indians of South America, and his understanding of Redemption. Cited in the beginning is the testimony of the Portuguese Marrano descendant Antonio De Montesinos (Aharon Levi), who claimed that on his travels to South America he encountered Indian tribes that observed a number of Jewish customs, and that they were the descendants of the tribes of Reuben and Levi. The work goes on to cite additional testimonies from research and travel books, and contains a discussion on the issue of Redemption, based on a view that associates Jewish settlement of all corners of the globe with the coming of the Messiah. A short time after the publication of the Spanish work, a Latin translation was published. The Latin version contained an additional introduction addressing the English parliament, as part of Ben Israel's efforts to convince the English authorities to allow the Jews to return to England.
The title page has typographic variations in comparison to other copies of this book.
[7] leaves, 126 pp, 15.5 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains and creases. Small tears to leaf margins (including small open tears to upper corners of some leaves). Margins cut near the edge of the upper title on some of the leaves. Lower margins cut and missing on four leaves (without damage to text). On the last eight leaves, the lower margins are missing, restored with paper substitutions. The title page is reinforced with acid-free adhesive tape. The following leaf is partly detached and its margins are torn. Markings and inscriptions in handwriting (ancient) on a number of leaves. Original vellum binding (slightly damaged). New endpapers.
In this work, Menasseh Ben Israel addresses the subject of the ten lost tribes of Israel, their identification with the Indians of South America, and his understanding of Redemption. Cited in the beginning is the testimony of the Portuguese Marrano descendant Antonio De Montesinos (Aharon Levi), who claimed that on his travels to South America he encountered Indian tribes that observed a number of Jewish customs, and that they were the descendants of the tribes of Reuben and Levi. The work goes on to cite additional testimonies from research and travel books, and contains a discussion on the issue of Redemption, based on a view that associates Jewish settlement of all corners of the globe with the coming of the Messiah. A short time after the publication of the Spanish work, a Latin translation was published. The Latin version contained an additional introduction addressing the English parliament, as part of Ben Israel's efforts to convince the English authorities to allow the Jews to return to England.
The title page has typographic variations in comparison to other copies of this book.
[7] leaves, 126 pp, 15.5 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains and creases. Small tears to leaf margins (including small open tears to upper corners of some leaves). Margins cut near the edge of the upper title on some of the leaves. Lower margins cut and missing on four leaves (without damage to text). On the last eight leaves, the lower margins are missing, restored with paper substitutions. The title page is reinforced with acid-free adhesive tape. The following leaf is partly detached and its margins are torn. Markings and inscriptions in handwriting (ancient) on a number of leaves. Original vellum binding (slightly damaged). New endpapers.