BIBLE, Hebrew. Hosea cum Thargum [The Books of Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah and Jonah with Targum Jonathan, and commentaries of Rashi, Ibn Ezra and R. David Kimchi]. Text and Targum in square Hebrew letters, commentaries in rabbinic type

(AMERICAN JUDAICA)

Robertus Stephanus

Paris

1556

Latin marginalia. Several early American owners’ inscriptions (see below)

Vinograd, Paris 32; Darlow and Moule 5097; Adams B-1289

Provenance: 1. Rebecca Gratz; 2. Her nephew Horace Moses; 3. Her niece Sarah Gratz Moses (Horace’s sister) The volume contains the following inscriptions: On title, in English: “Moses Hart’s Book,” and in Hebrew: Sepher zeh shel Moshe Tzvi ("Ex libris Moshe Tzvi.") Inscribed in Hebrew on p.140: Shayyach le-R. Yitzchak b. Moshe Tzvi. Nitan li be-yad adoni avi Moshe Tzvi mi-K.K. Lissa ha-birah bi-medinath Polin ha-Gadol, kathuv be-K.K. New York, shenath 5503 ("Property of Isaac son of Moshe Tzvi. Given to me by my father, Moshe Tzvi from Lissa, Greater Poland. Written here in New York, in the year 1743.") On pp. 141, 214, 224, earlier inscription: Moshe b. Tzvi mi-K.K. Lissa ("Moshe son of Tzvi from Lissa.") On final page, three inscriptions by members of the Hart Family: "Moshe ben Tzvi mi-K.K. Lissa;” “Moshe ben Tzvi mi-K.K. New York;” and Yitzchak ben Moshe Tzvi be-K.K. New York, shenath 5503 be-yom t”u le-chodesh Tamuz ("Isaac son of Moshe Tzvi, New York, 15th Tammuz, 1743.") Also, two inscriptions of Pinto Family members: Solomon Pinto and Jacob Pinto. Jacob (1724-1806) and Solomon (1725-?) were two sons of Abraham Pinto of Stratford, Connecticut. (See Malcolm H. Stern, Americans of Jewish Descent (1960), p. 180). Throughout the Revolutionary War they continued to reside in Connecticut. As for the Hart Family - Tzvi of Lissa, Poland; Moshe Tzvi of Lissa and New York; and Isaac of New York - we have reached an impasse. None of the available genealogical records shed light on these individuals - although there are records of many other Harts in Colonial America, even a few natives of Lissa, Poland (including the Revolutionary War patriot Haym Salomon). Further research is required. In the German Jewish community, it is customary for the son to add his father’s name to his own. Thus, Moshe Tzvi (Moses Hart) was the son of Tzvi. The English surname “Hart” is simply a translation of the Hebrew patronym “Tzvi” (a deer, or hart)