THE JEWISH FAITH; ITS SPIRITUAL CONSOLATION, MORAL GUIDANCE, AND IMMORTAL HOPE; WITH A BRIEF NOTICE OF THE REASONS FOR MANY OF ITS ORDINANCES AND PROHIBITIONS; A SERIES OF LETTERS ANSWERING THE INQUIRIES OF YOUTH

Philadelphia, 1864. Hardback. 1st American Edition and 1st edition with Leeser introduction. Period full tooled leather boards. 8vo. 446 pages ; 21 cm. Singerman 1812. Civil War-era imprint. "Grace Aguilar (1816 - 1847) was an English novelist, poet and writer on Jewish history and religion... Aguilar was the eldest child of Sephardic Jewish refugees from Portugal who settled in the London Borough of Hackney. An early illness resulted in her being educated by her parents, especially her mother, who taught her the tenets of Judaism... In the 1840s her novels began to attract regular readers... ‘The Jewish Faith: Its Spiritual Consolation, Moral Guidance, and Immortal Hope...' (is) addressed to a Jewess under the spell of Christian influence... (and) is devoted to immortality in the Old Testament. " (Wikipedia, 2016) This edition was edited by Isaac Leeser, "pioneer of the Jewish pulpit in the United States, founder of the Jewish press of America... (and) one of the most important American Jewish personalities of the nineteenth century America. " (Wikipedia, 2016) Contains a preface written by Leeser in which he writes, "The editor has discharged to simple duty to send forth a new addition of the least known, though the best, works of Miss Aguilar, (which) she valued more than her tails and novels..." OCLC lists 25 copies worldwide. "Bertha J. Myers, 1866, Augusta, GA" penned on inside of rear board. Front board detached, otherwise very good condition. (AMR-47-3A).