Ennery, J. [Jonas]. Translated by A. I. H. Bernal. Preface and "Address to the Israelites" by Isaac Leeser.

[MESILAT YISRA’EL]. THE PATH OF ISRAEL, OR, ABRIDGMENT OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES FOR THE USE OF THE YOUTH OF OUR NATION. PART THE FIRST [OF 3 EVENTUALLY ISSUED SERIALLY; COMPLETE FOR THE FIVE BOOKS OF MOSES]. [ASSOCIATION COPY FROM THE FAMILY OF THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS] מסלת ישראל

Philadelphia, Jewish Publication Society, 1847. Item #42792

5607 (1847). 1st English-language edition. Original boards, 12mo, [4], 140 pages. Singerman 968. Rosenbach 609. Simon Gratz’s copy, with designation bookplate from Gratz College, the Jewish institution established by his family. The copyright page notes, "Entered....in the year 1847, by John Moss, Mayer Arnold, and Gratz Etting." Copyright holder Gratz Etting's obituary, from Isaac Leeser's Occident, can be viewed at http://www.jewish-history.com/occident/volume7/jul1849/obituary.html. Gratz Etting's father, Reuben Etting, was the brother of Solomon Etting, was the first American-born shochet (ritual slaughterer), who was married to Rachel Gratz, only daughter of Barnard Gratz. The Gratz family tree, showing both Simon Gratz (this book's owner) and Reuben Etting and Rachel Gratz (the parents of copyright holder Gratz Etting) can be viewed at https://d5iam0kjo36nw.cloudfront.net/V06p082001.jpg.
Published by Isaac Leeser's first Jewish Publication Society; Isaac Leeser had, himself, famously, published the first Jewish translation of the 5 books of Moses into English just 2 years earlier, in 1845. Leeser's monumental Twenty-Four Books of the Holy Scriptures, the first Jewish translation of the 24 books of the Bible into English, would not appear until 1852.

”Simon Gratz (1840-1925) was among the most recognized and respected Jewish Americans in the city of Philadelphia. He was born into one of the oldest families and, perhaps, most notable. He inherited a legacy of high ambition and accomplishment going back to the family’s early settlers in the United States—Barnard and Michael Gratz. The Gratz Brothers were most enterprising in shipping, land acquisition, and trading, which allowed for the cementing of the strong and influential relationship between the family and the city. Simon’s father, Edward Gratz, was known for his activities with the construction of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and his most famous aunt, Rebecca Gratz, for her ‘charm’ and philanthropy” (Historical Society of Pennsylvania). The author, Jonas Ennery (1801-1863), was a French deputy. He was for twenty-six years attached to the Jewish school of Strasbourg, of which he became the head. In collaboration with Hirth, he compiled a Dictionnaire Général de Géographie Universelle (4 vols., Strasburg, 1839–41), for which Cuvier wrote a preface. Soon afterward he published Le Sentier d'Israël, ou Bible des Jeunes Israélites (Paris, Metz, and Strasburg, 1843). At the request of the Société des Bons Livres he took part in the editorship of Prières d'un Cœur Israélite, which appeared in 1848. In 1849, despite anti-Jewish rioting in Alsace, Ennery was elected representative for the department of the Lower Rhine, and sat among the members of the "Mountain." He devoted his attention principally to scholastic questions. After the coup d'état he resisted the new order of things, and was exiled for life in 1852. He retired to Brussels, where he lived as a teacher until his death.
For a brief overview of the Gratz-Etting family around the time of publication, see https://archives.cjh.org/agents/families/13583.
OCLC: 77743372. OCLC and Singerman together list 6 copies of this separate first edition from 1847 [American Antiquarian, Penn, YU, Free Lib Penn, Library Company Phila, PPRF(?)]. Gratz stamp on blank front pastedown, period paper label on boards, internally very clean and nice Very Good Condition. (B) (AMR-57-9B-BD!X-'kk).

Price: $2,500.00