Salonichia – Iuden Messias [Salonika – Messiah of the Jews], engraving from the book Delineatio Provinciarum Pannoniae Et Imperii Turcici in Oriente… Anderer Theil by Johann Christoph Wagner. [Augsburg: Jacob Koppmayer, probably 1687].

Engraving depicting several scenes from the life of Shabtai Tzvi; the scenes are numbered and detailed in a key on p. 51 of the book (not included in the present lot):

1. Messiah.

2. Synagogue.

3. Interior of synagogue.

4. Believers in Shabtai Tzvi honor him as king.

5. Arrest of Shabtai Tzvi by Ottoman soldiers.

The book by Johann Christoph Wagner (ca. 1640-1701), the source of the present engraving, discusses the Ottoman Empire, with historical descriptions of the empire and its wars, mainly against Hungary, of variegated cities and customs, and of the lives of its Jews. Wagner's book relies on studies and newspapers, but also on his own notes during his visits to the Orient.

13.5X23.5 cm (two leaves pasted together). Good condition. Stains, including long, narrow stain to center as a result of oxidation of glue. Light creases. Tear to top, not affecting engraving.

Provenance: Collection of Mozes Heiman Gans.

Heldendaaden der Blikke Banquet Ruyters tegen de Joodsche Plaatkoeken Vrouwen [The heroic deeds of the tin knights against the Jewish pastry women]. [Holland, ca. 1787]. Dutch.

Satirical-political engraving by an anonymous artist (unsigned), meant to be viewed near a light source to reveal a hidden layer of the picture (hold-to-light print).

The engraving mocks the Patriot militias in Holland and their violence towards the Jewish community. In the illustration, a Patriot soldier is depicted riding an underfed horse over a bridge towards a Jewish woman selling pastries. When the engraving is held to the light, the hidden layer reveals the soldier on the ground of hell, with the devil riding his back holding a sword.

This engraving was printed during the fierce political struggle in the 1780s Netherlands between the Patriots and the Orangists. The majority of Dutch Jews supported the House of Orange, making them a target for violence by the Patriots. The present engraving depicts the Patriot ridiculously displaying his strength not in the battlefield but by molesting defenseless Jewish women in the marketplace.

The bottom of the engraving features a biting six-line poems naming the Patriot with a contemporary epithet ("Kees") and comparing him to Don Quixote, foretelling his fall at the hands of the devil.

See: Rijksmuseum collection, Amsterdam (RP-P-OB-85.962); Frederik Muller catalog, no. 5025.

Leaf: 13X13.5 cm. Good condition. Minor defects. Matted.

Provenance: Collection of Mozes Heiman Gans; see his book: M. H. Gans, Memorbook, p. 278.

De Cultu S. Simonis Pueri Tridentini et Martyris apud Venetos [On the cult of Saint Simon, the child martyr of Trent, among the Venetians], by Flaminio Corner. Trent: Joannis Baptistae Monauni, 1765. Latin.

Hagiographical-historical work dedicated to the cult of the child Simon of Trent and its spread in the Venetian Republic, by Venetian historian and senator Flaminio Corner. The author, a prominent 18th-century church historian, dedicated several works to veneration of saints; in the present work he defends the veracity of the story and blood libel against the Jews of Trent.

This is the fourth edition, expanded and corrected by the author, including: a letter of Bishop Johannes Hinderbach of Trent, a central figure in the show trial, torture, and executions, and veneration of the child in 1475; a lamentation by Tommaso Prati; and documentation of further blood libels in the region, including the blood libels of Sebastianus de Portobuffolé and Laurentius de Marostica.

On title page, illustration (woodcut) depicting Simon of Trent as a suffering martyr, holding a flag and shield.

The Trent blood libel is one of the most famous and virulent blood libels in European Jewish history. On March 23, 1475, shortly before Passover, Simon, a Christian child of two and a half years, disappeared from his parents' home in Trent, northern Italy. Several days later, during Easter, his body was found in a water channel below the home of Shmuel of Nuremberg, a moneylender and central figure in the city's small Jewish community. As a result of the body's appearance, local bishop Johann Hinderbach declared the city's Jewish community guilty of murdering the child. The city's Jews were arrested and tortured over a period of weeks and finally executed, and the community was destroyed. Over the centuries, Simon has been considered a martyr, and his cult spread throughout Italy and beyond; only in 1965, after a reviewal of the affair's sources, did the Church retract the accusations against the Jews and the official veneration.

[2] leaves, 90 pages + [1] printed plate. Lacking 2 leaves at beginning of book (dedication to Maria Luisa of Spain and her husband Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor). 24 cm. Good condition. Minor tears and defects. Gilt edges. Old red fabric binding, slightly worn.

Not recorded in NLI catalog.

La saincte cité de Ierusalem iadiz metropolitaine du royaume des Iuifz, & maintenant colonie du Turc [The holy city of Jerusalem, formerly capital of the Jewish kingdom, now a Turkish colony]. Leaf (pp. 1255-1258) from Sebastian Münster's Cosmographia [from one of the French editions of the book, probably Zurich, 16th century].

Woodcut depicting Jerusalem as viewed from the east, by Jacob Clauser. Text below describes Jericho. Verso of leaf contains Hebrew text in praise of Jerusalem, and an imagined description of Acre (also in woodcut).

29.5X38 cm. Frame: 43.5X51 cm. Good condition. Light stains and creases. Minor marginal tears.

Ierusalem, panoramic view of Jerusalem as viewed from the Mount of Olives, by Cornelis de Bruyn. [Delft: Henrik van Krooneveld, 1698].

Plate no. 143 of Reizen van Cornelis de Bruyn (known as Voyage to the Levant), by Dutch traveler and artist Cornelis de Bruyn (1652-1726).

Laor 967.

Engraved map: approx. 125.5X30.5 cm (printed on two attached sheets of paper; no text on verso). Frame: 49.5X144.5 cm. Good-fair condition. Light stains. Folding marks across board. Tears, including full tears across folds, professionally restored with paper filling, including paper repairs to edges (not affecting printed content). Matted.