Bidspirit auction | (AMERICA). Joseph Schwarz. A Descriptive

(AMERICA). Joseph Schwarz. A Descriptive Geography and Brief Historical Sketch of Palestine. Translated from the Hebrew by Isaac Leeser.  Illustrated with Maps and Numerous Engravings. First American edition. English interspersed with Hebrew. Frontispiece portrait of author, two foldout maps of Land of Israel, 13 lithographed views of Holy Places. pp. xxii, (2), 17-518, (1), (1 blank). Original gilt-tooled boards. 4to. Singerman 1161. Philadelphia, C. Sherman, 1850. This work first appeared in Hebrew in 1845 under the title Tevu’oth Ha’Aretz. Four years later, the author, Joseph Schwarz, visited the United States as a rabbinical emissary from the Holy Land. Whilst in America, Schwarz arranged for the Rev. Isaac Leeser to translate Tevu’oth Ha’Aretz into English. Leeser was well cognizant of the pioneering status of the new book and proudly stated: “The execution of the whole…is the work of Jewish writers and artists, the drawings being executed by Mr. S. Shuster, a lithographer belonging to our Nation” (translator’s preface, p. viii). Leeser published the volume to “extend the knowledge of Palestine…and also to enkindle sympathy and kind acts for those of our brothers, who still cling to the soil of our ancestors” (translator’s preface, pp. viii-ix). “Probably the most important Jewish work issued in America up to that time.”   (JE, Vol. XI, p. 119). Accompanied by:   Schwarz, Joseph. Das Heilige Land.  First German edition.   German text with extensive use of Hebrew, prepared by the author’s nephew, Israel Schwarz. Frontispiece portrait of the author, tinted illustrated plates of the Western Wall and Bethlehem (opp. p. 209), the Cave of Machpeilah (opp. p. 240), folding panoramic view of Jerusalem and folding map of Palestine (at end).  Frankfurt a/Main, 1852.