Group of three American pamphlets relating to Sir Moses Montefiore

These pamphlets are evidence of the esteem felt by American Jews who celebrated Sir Moses Montefiore on the centenary of his birth and who mourned his death just a few months later. They commemorated his life in particular American terms: “The infant of 1784 was greeted by the echo of the Shot at Lexington which had just come back from its round through the earth. One year before, the young republic of the West had been admitted to legitimacy in the family of organized states. Who knows but that over the cradle at Leghorn floated wondrous sounds, telling of the thirteen starred-spangled banner, that had conquered the freedom of her children? Who knows, but even in Italy the heavens were filled with the prophecy of that banner’s glorious mission?” The great British Jewish financier and philanthropist Sir Moses Montefiore was born in Leghorn, Italy on October 28th, 1784 and died in Ramsgate, England, July 25, 1885 just three months shy of his 101st birthday.