History of the Jews. By Heinrich Graetz. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America. 1956. 8.5 x 5.5", 8vos.
Vol. I: From the Earliest Period to the Death of Simon the Maccabee (135 B. C. E.), 553 pp.
Vol. II: From the Reign of Hyrcanus (135 B. C. E.) to the Completion of the Babylonian Talmud (500 C. E.), 656 pp.
Vol. III: From the Revolt Against the Zendik (511 C. E.) to the Capture of St. Jean d'Acre by the Mahometans (1291 C. E.), 675 pp.
Vol. IV: From the Rise of the Kabbala (1270 C. E.) to the Permanent Settlement of the Marranos in Holland (1618 C. E.), 743 pp.
Vol. V: From the Chmielnickie Persecution of the Jews in Poland (1648 C. E.) to the Period of Emancipation in Central Europe (c. 1870 C. E.), 766 pp.
Vol. VI: Containing a Memoir of the Author by Dr. Philip Bloch, A Chronological Table of Jewish History, An Index to the Whole Work. 632 pp.
In good condition. Red cloth boards lightly rubbed at edges and corners. Heads and tails of spines bumped. Gilt lettering and ruling on spines dulled from shelf-wear, but legible. Top edges painted red. Light finger soiling on Vol. I's bottom edge of title page. Normal age-related toning throughout all text-blocks; mostly to edges of leaves. Bindings are intact. A Complete set. Please see photos.
Heinrich Graetz (1817 – 1891) was a German exegete and one of the first historians to write a comprehensive history of the Jewish people from a Jewish perspective. Born Tzvi Hirsch Graetz to a butcher family in Xions, Grand Duchy of Posen, in Prussia (now in Poland), he attended Breslau University, but since Jews at that time were barred from receiving Ph.D.s there, he obtained his doctorate from the University of Jena. After 1845 he was principal of the Jewish Orthodox school of the Breslau community, and later taught history at the Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland). His magnum opus History of the Jews was the first Jewish history which threaded together a unified national history across the global Jewish communities. It was quickly translated into other languages and ignited worldwide interest in Jewish history, and later was used as a textbook in Israeli schools. As a result, Graetz was widely considered a Zionist or proto-Zionist, but historians have also noted his support for European assimilation.
Complete Set! Clean reading copies.
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