Nathan Mayer, M.D. The Last of the Asmoneans.

(AMERICAN JUDAICA)

Bloch & Co., Office of The Israelite

Cincinnati

1859

Rare first edition. Entirely unknown to Singerman. This novel is set back in ancient Judea during the reign of murderous King Herod, who usurped the Hasmonean dynasty. Isaac Mayer Wise writes in his “The World of My Books” that it was only after the appearance of the literary skills of Nathan Mayer that the rabbi felt he no longer needed to present to the public Jewish fiction in English: “I had entered the world of new books only out of dire need. And I had to keep writing novels until I was relieved by Dr. Nathan Mayer…” (see pp. 20-21).