THE JEWISH SPY: BEING A PHILOSOPHICAL, HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL CORRESPONDENCE, BY LETTERS WITCH LATELY PASS'D BETWEEN CERTAIN JEWS IN TUKEY, ITALY, FRANCE & C. TRANSL. FROM THE ORIG. INTO FRENCH, BY THE MARQUIS D'ARGENS, AND NOW DONE INTO ENGLISH
London; Printed For D. Browne And R. Hett, 1739. Item #32142
Later half calf and marbled boards. 16mo. Xii, 303, [45] pages. 17 cm. First English edition. Translated from the original into French, by the Marquis d'Argens; and now done into English. A translation of the first 40 letters only of Lettres juives. “The original ‘Lettres juives, ou correspondence philosophique, historique et critique…’ began publication as a series of weekly pamphlets as early as March or April, 1736. By 1737, a year after they were printed at the Hague in book form, they were well known throughout France. … The first English edition, entitled The Jewish Spy, appeared in London in 1739 (first forty letters only) – followed by four more volumes in 1740. The second edition, in five volumes, appeared in 1744. … Matters relating to Jews and Judaism occupy only a small portion of The Jewish Spy, but they engaged some sixteen letters completely [letters 1, 23, 36, etc. ], and references are scattered through no less than seventy others. … D’Argens, though frequently salting his letters with earthy and ribald humor – often anti-clerical, rarely descends to jesting about Jews. … Transparently, the author is no Judaeophile. He offers many harsh chastisements of both Faith and People. Just as he uses Judaism as a constant foil against the weaknesses of Christianity, he exalts Karaism time and again to the detraction of Rabbinism or traditional Judaism. … undoubtedly he helped create the new atmosphere that made Emancipation possible by the end of the century. ” (Stanley Brav, ‘Jews and Judaism in the Jewish Spy’; Studies in Bibliography and Booklore, volume 4, June 1960) . Later fine binding, half calf, raised bands outlined in gilt, title in gilt on spine, marbled boards. Subjects: Jews - Europe. Lettres juives. English. Selections. French Enlightenment. Books published before 1800. OCLC lists 29 copies. Light soiling to corner on title page, otherwise very clean and fresh. Great condition. (SPEC-36-54).
Price: $800.00