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Estimate €400 - €600
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Description
Judaica Weis, Markus Nissa Markus Nissa Weis’s ‘A Message to the People’ in Times of Adversity. Vienna, no printing details given, 1803. 45, (1) pp. Period violet silk ribbon with gilt edges, marbled endpapers. (Spine covering slightly frayed at the head, otherwise in good condition). First and only edition, not listed in Fuerst. Presumably printed in a small run and extremely rare; no copies appear on the international market. Copy on heavy handmade paper. The inside front cover bears a promotional leaflet by the author, printed on bluish paper, stating that the work can be purchased exclusively from the author himself, ‘currently in Vienna, in Rothenthurmgasse at Kuessenpfennig No. 769 on the main staircase on the 4th floor, door No. 25’ (corrected by hand to ‘21’),’ together with a request to the ‘esteemed customers’ to recommend the work ‘according to its perceived value’ – a remarkable and rare insight into the distribution channels of a self-publisher of that era. Markus Nissa Weis (1751–1817) was an early Maskil and one of the first religious reformers in Hungarian Jewry. Originally a merchant with a sound Talmudic education, he occasionally preached in his congregation in Ungvár. In an autobiography written in 1808, he described his sudden intellectual transformation, which was triggered by the establishment of the Josephinist schools: he painstakingly learnt German and, through this, discovered Moses Mendelssohn and the Haskalah. Weis criticised the dual education system, which separated secular and religious instruction and had emerged with the Josephinist schools of the 1780s, and called for a merger incorporating lessons in Hebrew, the Bible and religion, modelled on the Wilhelms-Schule in Breslau. In October 1802, he circulated copies of an anti-Jewish manuscript entitled *Der Jude wie er ist* (*The Jew as He Is*) amongst trusted acquaintances – apparently all of whom were non-Jewish. According to his own account, this reached the Jewish community and, as Weis claimed, spread rapidly beyond Hungary’s borders, triggering fierce backlash. There is no evidence to support this account, nor has any copy of the manuscript survived. However, the content of this lost manuscript was summarised and expanded upon in the present work, *Der bedrängte Markus Nissa Weis an die Menschen* (*Markus Nissa Weis, the Oppressed, to the People*), printed in Vienna the following year – the only surviving printed record of his views. Weis’s emphasis on the biblical text and reason ultimately led him to the conviction that he had found in Christianity a religion that was both rational and moral; in 1805, he converted to the Roman Catholic faith in Pest. Until his death in 1817, he served there as assistant to the censor of Hebrew books. An extraordinarily rare document of the early Haskalah movement in Hungary, scarcely preserved in this form – and at the same time a personal account of one of the most complex and tragic biographies of a convert during the Jewish Enlightenment in the Habsburg Monarchy. First and only edition, not listed in Fuerst. Probably printed in only a small print run and of great rarity. No copy in international trade. Copy on strong laid paper. The inside front cover bears an advertising slip printed on bluish paper by the author, stating that the work is to be obtained exclusively from the author himself, “currently in Vienna in Rothenthurmgasse, at Kuessenpfennig No. 769, on the main staircase, 4th floor, door No. 25’ (corrected by hand to ‘21’), together with a request to the ‘esteemed purchasers’ to recommend the work to friends ‘according to its perceived worth’ – a remarkable and rare insight into the distribution methods of a self-published author of his time. Markus Nissa Weis (1751–1817) was an early Maskil and one of the first religious reformers within Hungarian Jewry. Originally a merchant with a solid Talmudic education, he occasionally preached in his community of Ungvár. In an autobiography written in 1808, he described the sudden intellectual transformation brought about by the establishment of the Josephinian school system: with great effort he learnt German, and through it discovered Moses Mendelssohn and the Haskalah. Weis criticised the two-tiered educational system of separate secular and religious instruction that had emerged with the Josephinian schools of the 1780s, and called for it to be combined with instruction in Hebrew, the Bible and religion, following the model of the recently founded Wilhelms-Schule in Breslau. In October 1802, he circulated copies of a manuscript highly critical of the Jews, entitled ‘Der Jude wie er ist’ (The Jew as He Is), amongst trusted acquaintances – apparently all non-Jews. According to his own account, this reached the Jewish community and, as Weis claimed, spread rapidly even beyond Hungary, provoking fierce opposition. No evidence has come to light to corroborate this account, nor has any copy of the manuscript survived. The content of this lost manuscript was, however, summarised and expanded upon in the present pamphlet, published in Vienna the following year under the title *Der bedrängte Markus Nissa Weis an die Menschen* – the only surviving printed record of his views. Weis’s emphasis on the biblical text and on reason ultimately led him to believe that he had found in Christianity a religion that was both rational and moral; in 1805 he converted to the Roman Catholic faith in Pest. Until his death in 1817, he served there as an assistant to the censor of Hebrew books. An extraordinarily rare document, scarcely preserved in this form, from the early Haskalah movement in Hungary – and at the same time a personal account of one of the most complex and tragic conversion stories of the Jewish Enlightenment within the Habsburg Monarchy. This lot is subject to standard tax. A 24.95% buyer’s premium is payable on the hammer price, and 7% (Books and Art) or 19% VAT (Manuscripts, Screenprints, Offset Prints, Photographs) is payable on the final invoice amount within the European Union. This lot is subject to the standard margin scheme. A 24.95% buyer’s premium applies to the hammer price, and 7% (books and art) or 19% VAT (manuscripts, screen prints, offset prints and photographs) applies to the final invoice amount within the European Union.
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About the sale Valuable books, prints, historical photographs
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Auction time 10/24/2026 at 10:00 AM
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