(JUDAICA) Warden Cresson The Key of David David the True Mes

Sale 2546 - Lot 114

Price Realized: $ 1,188

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Estimate: $ 1,200 - $ 1,800

(JUDAICA.) Warden Cresson. The Key of David: David the True Messiah; or, the Anointed of the God of Jacob. 6 text illustrations. iv, [13]-344. 8vo, later cloth, minor wear; moderate foxing, a few pages coming detached. Philadelphia, 5612 [1852]

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The author was born into a distinguished Philadelphia Quaker family. Shortly after being appointed as the American consul in Jerusalem, he converted to Judaism. His American wife and son attempted to have him declared insane in 1851, but he prevailed in the resulting court case. During this period, while he was active in Philadelphia's Jewish community, he wrote "The Key of David," explaining the logic behind his conversion: "The Law cannot be abrogated, nor destroyed, no more than God himself can be abrogated or destroyed" (page 119). His "lunacy case" is also discussed at length. Some of the contradictions of Christianity are addressed in a dialogue between an evangelical minister and a slave (pages 197-202, illustrated). The following year he returned to Jerusalem to spend his remaining years. Singerman 1234.