TRAVELS IN ENGLAND, FRANCE, SPAIN, AND THE BARBARY STATES, IN THE YEARS 1813-14 AND 15

Noah, Mordecai M.

Numéro d'objet:	8845
Date:	1819
Genre:	Livre
Lieu:	New York
Sujet:	Voyages

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Bound in full marbled leather with bright gilt borders to the boards, bright gilt lettering and designs to the spine, gilt dentelles, and with a marble-edged text block, this antique volume is a scarce work detailing Noah's voyage through England, France, and Spain on his way to assume the position as United States Consul to Tunis, which was the first overseas diplomatic assignment by an American Jew. "Mordecai Manuel Noah (1785 - 1851) was an American playwright, diplomat, journalist, and utopian. Born in a family of Portuguese Sephardic ancestry, he was the most important Jewish lay leader in New York in the pre-Civil War period." In 1813, Noah "...was nominated Consul to the Kingdom of Tunis, where he rescued American citizens kept as slaves by Moroccan masters. In 1815, Noah received a stunning blow; in the words of US Secretary of State James Monroe, his religion was 'an obstacle to the exercise of [his] Consular function.'" Despite his protests, and receiving much support from prominent figures such as John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, Noah was removed from his position (courtesy of Wikipedia).

The work is illustrated with a frontispiece portrait of the author, a full-page view of Algiers, a full-page illustration of a "Merchant Slave and Arab," a folding view of the "Fortress of Goletta Near Tunis," and a full-page illustration of Abdullah American Drogaman. The volume shows light external age/wear, and is solidly bound with lightly age-toned pages which display light, scattered foxing. The book measures approximately 5 1/4" x 8 1/2" and contains 431 pages plus appendix.