(FRENCH JUDAICA)

AUCTION 38 | Thursday, November 29th, 2007 at 1:00

Fine Judaica: Printed Books, Manuscripts, Autograph Letters & Graphic Art

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Lot 107

(FRENCH JUDAICA)

Four documents relating to Napoleon and the Jews: El rashei am kadosh b'nei yisrael yoshvei tzarphath ve-italia me-eth acheihem rabbanei ve-chachmei ha-edah ha-nikheleth be-mitzvath adoneinu ha-keisar ve-ha-melech ha-gadol yar[um] h[odo] poh paris [“Appeal to the Jewish residents of France and Italy from the rabbinic assembly convened by Napoleon to recite the attached prayer on behalf of the Emperor.”] pp. (3) + 1 integral blank. 4to. [Vinograd, Paris 99; Szajkowski 183]. (9th Mar-cheshvan 1806). 9th Mar-Cheshvan, 1806. * Tephilah li-b'nei yisrael yoshvei tzarphath ve-italia al hatzlachath tziv'oth cheil adoneinu ha-keisar ve-ha-melech napolion ha-gadol yar[um] h[odo], nitkenah be-chodesh marcheshvan shenath 5567 [“Prayer for the success of the armies of Emperor Napoleon, enacted in the month of Marcheshvan 5567.”] pp.(3) + 1 integral blank. 8vo. [Vinograd, Paris 105; Szajkowski 184]. Paris,1806. * Manuscript prayer for the success of the Jewish delegates ordered to appear before the Emperor as well as prayers for Napoleon and his beloved Josephine. Square Hebrew characters provided with nikud (vowel points). pp. (1) + 3 integral blanks. Black ink on watermarked paper. 7 1/2 x 9 inches. (1806). * Manuscript prayer instituted by the Consistoire in the city of Metz to be recited on Sunday, 9 June upon the birth of the Prince, "King of Rome," son of the Emperor Napoleon. Square Hebrew characters. Single side. Black ink on ruled paper. 7 x 8 3/4 inches. (Metz, 1811). * With a further five documents, similar.

Est: $1,500 - $2,000

PRICE REALIZED $1,900

On May 30, 1806 an imperial decree was issued announcing Napoleon's decision to call an assembly of the principal Jews in his realm. Eventually, there formed the Assembly of the Israelites of France and of the Kingdom of Italy, later called the Assembly of Notables, totaling 111 members. The Hebrew prayer issued by the rabbinate at this time gives us some inkling as to what trepidation seized the delegates. Though they knew not exactly what demands awaited them, they were filled with a prescient sense of foreboding. And in fact, as we now know, the right to French citizenship would be linked by the Emperor to the shedding of their particularism and to - intermarriage. S. Schwarzfuchs, Napoleon, the Jews and the Sanhedrin (1979), p.59