(ITALY)

AUCTION 48 | Thursday, May 27th, 2010 at 1:00
Fine Judaica: Hebrew Printed Books, Manuscripts, Graphic & Ceremonial Art Featuring an Exceptional Collection of American Judaica

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Lot 131

(ITALY)

Summarium [letter of General Father of the Dominicans to the representative of the Church in Poland, debunking the myth of Jewish ritual murder]. pp. (8). Trace foxed. One small hole minutely affecting text. Lg. 4to. Rome, Stamperia della Reu. Camera Apostolica, 1706. * With: Roth, Cecil. The Ritual Murder Libel and the Jew: The Report by Cardinal Lorenzo Ganganelli (Pope Clement XIV.) Manchester, 1934.

Est: $1,500 - $2,000
In the 18th-century, the Jews of Poland were repeatedly the target of false accusations of ritual murder. To silence their accusers, they turned to the papal authority in Rome. This document, disproves the false allegation, based upon (among other sources) Maimonides Guide of the Perplexed (Pt. 3, Chap. 46) as translated by Johannes Buxtorf (p. 5). Roth has reproduced a later report from the year 1759 by Cardinal Ganganelli (later Pope Clement XIV) that would likewise clear the Jews of the charge being levelled against them by Polish Anti-semites.