SCHWARTZ, JOSEPH

Israel Bak

Jerusalem

v.d.

Divrei Yoseph: Tevu’oth Ha’shemesh [topography of Eretz Israel, the solar cycle and calculations of sunrise and sunset]. Part I. In four sections. Title within printer’s finely ornamented architectural arch. ff.(8),70,(4 of 6), lacking last two unnumbered leaves containing preface to Part II. Stained in places. [Vinograd, Jerusalem 16; Halevy 17]. 1843. * Tevu’oth Ha’aretz [geography, natural history and political history of Eretz Israel]. Part II. Title within typographical border. Divisional titles. ff. (2),156;52,(3). Trace marginal worming on first and last few leaves. [Vinograd, Jerusalem 42; Halevy 31]. 1845. * Divrei Yoseph: Teshuvoth [responsa, many relating to Jewish life in the Holy Land]. Parts III and IV. Title within typographical border. cornucopia printer’s device on verso of title. ff.(4),180,(1). [Vinograd, Jerusalem 95; Halevy 62]. 1862

A Talmudic and Biblical scholar of note, Joseph Schwartz settled in Jerusalem in 1833 and devoted himself to the study of the topography, geography and natural history of the Holy Land. In Tevu’oth Ha’aretz, he endeavored to identify the location of cities referred to in the Bible and Talmud. Written in the manner of a Rabbinic treatise rather than in a scientific style, the work contains much valuable information which sheds light on Biblical and Talmudic geography. See M. Waxman Vol. III, pp. 624-5. According to Y. Ben-Arieh: “Schwartz’s work is significant in that it became the basis and model for all subsequent Hebrew writing on Palestine exploration taking Jewish sources into account.” See, The Rediscovery of the Holy Land in the Nineteenth Century (1979) p.104