Post-Biblical History of the Jews: from the close of the Old Testament, about the year 420 B.C.E., till the destruction of the second temple in the year 70 C.E.
Philadelphia: Moss & Brother, 1856. First edition. Hardcover. Octavo. 405, [1], 486pp. Original cloth with gold lettering on spines and blind-stamped decoration on covers. A two-volume, popular and uncritical history of the Jewish people encompassing the post-exilic period (Book I), the Maccabean Revolt (Book II), the Hasmoneans (Book III), and the Roman era (Book IV) culminating in the First Jewish Revolt. Staunchly Jewish in perspective, Raphall freely admits his bias, referring to himself as "not the abstraction of a Jew, but one living, acting, feeling warmly for them and with them: he is the son, the descendant of the men whose deeds and suffering he is about to relate". Raphall based his history primarily upon Josephus and the Talmud, but also utilizes Polybius, Tacitus and several other historians, ancient and modern, among them Gillies' "History of Greece" and Kitto's "History of Palestine". Raphall recognizes the pro-Roman bias of Josephus "whose public life exercised so pernicious an influence on the fortunes of Judea". "Such is the brief and business-like statement of Josephus . . . who cannot find one word of censure for these Roman atrocities, while his virtuous indignation boils over whenever he can meet with an opportunity of enlarging on the wickedness of the Jews". Age wear on binding with rubbing along edges and moderate abrasion on spines. Ex private library copy, with bookplate on inside of each front cover. Previous owner's stamp on each free front endpaper. Some soiling on very first pages of first volume. Minor age-toning along paper margin. Binding in overall fair, interior in good to good+ condition. fair. Item #29094
Price: $200.00