Rose de Jerusalem [Frankfurt-Jerusalem: Wilhelm Moses Shapira and Christian Friedrich Spittler, ca. 1860s].
Rose de Jerusalem, folding lithographic print depicting colorful roses and views of sites sacred to Jews and Christians alongside famous sites in Jerusalem. The views are captioned in English and French.
Such "Rose" prints were common in the 19th century, depicting sights from various cities around the world. The first Jerusalemite "Rose", known as "Shoshanta", was printed by Yoel Moses Solomon and Michel Hacohen. The two travelled to Europe in 1859 to study Torah; however, when they decided they needed a profession, they studied lithography in Königsberg and returned to Jerusalem with a lithography press. The first item they printed in 1862, after their return to Jerusalem, was the Rose de Jerusalem which depicted Jerusalem and holy sites in Palestine.
Soon, they had competition – the publisher and antiques dealer Wilhelm Moses Shapira, who was known for his forgery of antiquities, and Christian Friedrich Spittler, founder of the St. Chrischona Pilgrim Mission in Basel (which sent Johan Ludwig Schneller, the founder of the Syrian orphanage in Jerusalem, to Palestine). Shapira and Spittler's rose, which was aimed at Christians and therefore depicted mainly sacred Christian sites in Jerusalem, was printed in Frankfurt and brought to Jerusalem after the printing of Solomon's and Hacohen's.
Enclosed with the rose is an envelope with a view of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, reading "Rose de Jerusalem"; "Vue de Jérusalem".
23.5X23.5 cm. Good condition. Cracks and tears. Small open tears to edges. Tears and stains to envelope.
Literature: Following the Jerusalemite "Rose", the Pioneer of Hebrew Lithography in Palestine (Hebrew), by Nir Feldman. Et-Mol (234), 2014. pp. 6-8.