7 11 (AMERICAN-JUDAICA) Uriah Phillips Levy. Manual of Internal Rules and Regulations for Men-of-War. Second edition enlarged. pp. 80 + 4 pp. of ads. Pencil signature on front free endpaper of Rev. Benjamin Whitmore (Chiltonville, Mass.), occasional stains. Original deep-blue limp boards, upper cover gilt-tooled with title and anchor, lightly rubbed. 12mo. New York, D. Van Nostrand, 1862. $1000 - $1500 ❧ Uriah Phillips Levy (1792-1862) was the first Jewish Commodore in the US Navy and a significant philanthropist to American-Jewish causes. Born in Philadelphia, Levy fought in the Barbary Wars and was later assigned to the USS Argus during the War of 1812. Levy continued to serve in the Navy, rising to the ranks of lieutenant (1817), master commandant (1837), and captain (1844). Levy was instrumental in helping to end the Navy's practice of flogging, and during his half-century-long service, prevailed against the anti-Semitism he faced among some of his fellow naval officers. Levy later developed much wealth through real estate investments which he used to benefit the Bnai Jeshurun Educational Institute in New York. An ardent admirer of Thomas Jefferson, in 1836 Levy purchased Monticello, the late President’s estate, which decades later was gifted to the American people. 12 (AMERICAN-JUDAICA) The African Slave Trade: The Secret Purpose of the Insurgents to Revive It. No Treaty Stipulations Against the Slave Trade to Be Entered into with the European Powers. Judah P. Benjamin’s Intercepted Instructions to L.Q.C. Lamar. pp. 24. Original printed wrappers, edge of one margin of upper cover chipped, rubbed. 8vo [Sabin 81812.] Philadelphia, C. Sherman, 1863. $1000 - $1500 ❧ The background to this pamphlet is as follows: The Confederacy, in which Judah P. Benjamin served as Secretary of State, entered into secret negotiations with the European powers seeking recognition as an independent nation. However it was feared that in exchange for recognition, the Europeans would require a stipulation on the part of the Confederacy forbidding the importation of slaves from Africa. Judah P. Benjamin parried, by arguing that no stipulation was necessary, for the Confederacy was already legally bound to forbid involvement with the African slave trade. A letter written by Benjamin to this effect, intended for Confederate minister. L.Q.C. Lamar, special envoy to the Russian government in St. Petersburg, was intercepted by the North and Benjamin’s argument was exposed as sophistry. Judah Philip Benjamin (1811-84) was born into a Sephardic family on St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. As a boy, he moved with his parents to the United States where he went on to become senator from Louisiana, and during the Civil War, served the Confederacy first as Secretary of War and later as Secretary of State. See EJ, Vol. IV cols. 528-9. 13 (AMERICAN-JUDAICA) Constitution and By-Laws of the Board of Delegates of American Israelites. pp. 12. Ex-library, edges of first and last leaf chipped. Unbound, although remnants of original printed upper cover present. 12mo. [Singerman 1639.] New York, “Jewish Messenger,” 1860. $6000 - $9000 ❧ The Board of Delegates of American Israelites was established in 1859 in order to organize, under one central authority, the functioning of all synagogues and religious schools throughout the United States. These by-laws lay out the rules and regulations in relation to the functioning of the Board, as well as to set out the proper conduct in the involvement of the Board within congregational matters. Rev. Isaac Leeser was appointed the Board's vice president. The autograph manuscript of these By-Laws written by Leeser was sold by Kestenbaum & Company, Sale 79, Lot 199. Lot 11 Lot 12 Lot 13