"Even Sapir", account of the journeys of Rabbi Jacob Saphir (Sapir) in Yemen, India, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, and elsewhere. Two books – Lyck, 1866 / Mainz, 1874. The second book is inscribed by Saphir.
• "Even Sapir, his travels in the land of Cham (Egypt), the Red Sea, Yemen, Eastern India, the new land of Australia, New Zealand and his return to Jerusalem", by Jacob Saphir. Lyck: "Mekitzei Nirdamim" Society, 1866.
[10], 111 ff. (leaves 81-84 are bound in twice), 21 cm. Good condition. Stains. No binding. On the title page, stamp of Rabbi Yoel Zalkind, Rabbi of Raygrod (Poland) and an autograph inscription by him.
• "Even Sapir, second book, Aden, India Bombay… Singapore, Australia, Sydney, Melbourne, New Zealand, Ceylon and the return to Jerusalem", by Jacob Saphir. Mainz: Yechiel Brill, 1874.
The first page is inscribed by Jacob Saphir in Hebrew.
[5] ff., 237, [1] pp. (mispagination), 20.5 cm. Good condition. The front endpaper is detached. Stains. Creases. Small tears along edges of leaves. Binding with a leather spine, worn and blemished. Traces of a sticker on the spine.
Rabbi Jacob Saphir (1822-1885), a traveler, emissary (Shadar) and researcher of Hebrew manuscripts. Born in Russia, he immigrated to Palestine with his parents and initially lived in Safed. In 1836, after the first earthquake and the Safed Riots, he moved to Jerusalem, where he studied, got married, and served as teacher, occasional poet and scribe and secretary of the Prushim community of Jerusalem. In 1858, he accepted the position of Shadar (emissary) and was sent on a journey to Jewish communities in the East. While raising funds for the Jews of Jerusalem, Saphir documented his journeys in detail, recording the customs of both Jewish and non-Jewish communities. He showed special interest in Yemenite Jews and their traditions and his writings constitute a first ethnographic description of the Yemenite communities alongside a comprehensive historical and philological study of their manuscripts.