03. [A Year After the Civil War, the Jews of Baltimore Establish a Hospital] Cohen, Joshua; Other contributors include Rev. Dr, Benjamin Szold; Dr. Abram Arnold; Rev. Henry Hochheimer; & Rev. Dr. Solomon Deutsch

LAYING OF THE CORNER-STONE OF THE BALTIMORE ASYLUM FOR ISRAELITES. BETH MACHASE UMISHTOR, AND THE ADRESSES [SIC] UPON THE OCCASION, BALTIMORE, JUNE 25TH, 1866 (12TH TAMMUZ 5626).

Baltimore: W. Winkler & J.L. Leucht, Jr., 1867. Item #43137

1st edition. Later leather binding, 12mo, 30 pages. In English and German. Singerman Nr. 1986.
Early-post-Civil War Jewish Baltimore imprint. Included are “Introductory Remarks by the Vice President Dr. Joshua J. Cohen” [pages 5-7], followed by a prayer [in English] by “The Rev. Dr. Benjamin Szold, Rabbi of the Oheb Shalom Congregation" [pages 8-9].
Page 11 announces the event and lists the officers, board of managers, and building committee of the Hebrew Benevolent Society of Baltimore Chebroh Shangare Soshiyo [26 names] as well as the Architect and Building and also the President of the US, the Governor of Maryland, and the Mayor of Baltimore.
“After the completion of the ceremony of depositing the box in the corner-stone the following brief remarks [on pages 12-17] were addressed to the audience by Dr. Abram Arnold.
The exercises closed with a short but very impressive sermon [pages 18-23, printed in both English and German] by the Rev. Henry Hochheimer, Rabbi of the F.P. Heb. Friendship Congregation….
Mr. Henry Straus, the chairman of the Building Committee introduced to the Assembly the orator of the day, the Rev. Dr. Solomon Deutsch, Rabbi of the Har Sinai Temple….The admirable address [in German] of the Doctor…occupies the closing pages [pages 24-30] of this pamphlet.”
It is also noted that “Mr. Ignatius Lauer, the Secretary of the Baltimore Hebrew Benevolent Society read the inscription on the metal plate and a list of the articles which were deposited in the corner stone….”
In the History of Baltimore City and County, Maryland, J. Thomas Scharf notes that, “The Hebrew Hospital owes its existence to the Hebrew Benevolent Society, which, in March, 1863, appointed a committee to report a plan for the establishment of a hospital. The corner-stone was laid on the 25th of June, 1866 [marked by this booklet], but the ‘Hebrew Hospital and Asylum Association’ was not chartered until Jan. 13, 1868, and in May of that year the building, corner of Ann and Monument Streets, was completed, at a cost of sixty-three thousand dollars, and opened for the reception of patients.
The object of the association is to ‘afford surgical and medical aid, comfort, and protection in sickness to the suffering and needy, and to provide an asylum for the infirm and destitute, and for all other purposes appertaining to hospitals, asylums, and dispensaries.’
The average number of inmates is between twenty and twenty-five; the hospital will accommodate thirty-two patients. The income is derived from subscriptions, donations, bequests, etc. The officers are Joseph Friedenwald, president from the beginning until the present time; Vice-President, B.F. Ulman; Treasurer, A.S. Adler; Secretary, Ignatius Lauer. The Ladies’ Hebrew Hospital Association, which was formed in 1868, was dissolved on the 7th of Maryland, 1880. It had been largely instrumental in the construction and support of the hospital.”
For more on the Hebrew Hospital, see the relevant content in “Medicine in Maryland, 1752-1920,” online at mdhistoryonline.net/2018/06/02/h23/.
OCLC: 82997874. OCLC & Singerman together locate 6 copies worldwide (AHJS, NLI, JTSA, Penn, HUC, Maryland Historical Soc).
Apparently lacks the original front paper cover, though title page and all text pages are present. Light toning, a few spots, Very Good Condition, attractive copy. (BK5) (AMR-72-2-'+).

Price: $950.00