SCHWARZ, JOSEPH. Das Heilige Land

(LAND OF ISRAEL)

J. Kaufmann

Frankfurt a/Main

1852

FIRST GERMAN EDITION. Frontispiece portrait of the author, tinted illustrated plates of the Cave of Machpelah, Bethlehem and the Western Wall, folding panoramic view of Jerusalem and folding map of the Holy Land prepared by the Author. German text with extensive use of Hebrew.

Freimann 171; not in Blackmer

German translation of Tevu’ath Ha’aretz (1845) prepared by the author’s nephew, Israel Schwarz. The book deals with the borders and division of the Holy Land (according to both Biblical and Rabbinic tradition), its topography, history, genealogy of inhabitants, botany, and climate - including incidents of earthquakes through history. Joseph Schwarz was born in Bavaria and emmigrated to Jerusalem in1833, whereupon he adopted the rituals and customs of the local Sephardic Jews. Following the appearance of this German edition, Schwarz revisited his native country in order to receive a decoration bestowed upon him by the Austrian Emperor. Schwarz is considered the first Jewish geographer of modern times. “[His] work is significant in that it became the basis and model for all subsequent Hebrew writing on Palestine exploration, taking Jewish sources into account.” Y. Ben-Arieh, The Rediscovery of the Holy Land in the Nineteenth Century (1979) pp.104-07