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- Travels in England
Travels in England, France, Spain, and the Barbary States: in the Years 1813-14 and 15.
Noah, Mordecai M.
Kirk and Mercein, ( 1819), New York
21.5 cm. vi, (1 - errata), 431, xlvii pp. b/w engraved frontispiece and plates, one folding
Price: $750
Mordecai Noah was an American Jewish Lawyer, playwright, and diplomat. In 1813 he was appointed consul to Tunis, with a special mission to Algiers negotiating for the release of American sailors held prisoner there. The “Travels” referred to in the title were more fraught than they might appear. On his way to his post his ship was seized by the British and he was held in England for two months before being allowed to continue his mission, only to be delayed in France and Spain for more than a year. President Monroe revoked his commission in 1815, after he’d succeeded in having twelve American prisoners released. Monroe’s motives were never fully explained, and they carried a whiff of antisemitism which won Noah favor in certain circles. He became a newspaper editor and made unsuccessful efforts to establish a place of safe haven for oppressed Jews of all nations. He later found success as a playwright and continued his career as a newspaperman. The forty-seven pages of appendices at the end of the volume contain interesting details on the means by which prisoners were freed and such factual information as the particulars of our commerce with Tunis. See DAB VII, p. 534. Smith N17. S&S 48941. Bound in full contemporary calf, rebacked to match with leather spine label. Water stain affecting the central portions of frontispiece and title page. Scattered foxing. The large folding plate of the Tunisian waterfront has been rebacked and shows tanning at the folds. A good copy of a scarce and interesting book.
