Skizze der Geschichte der Juden in der Barbaria (Sketch of the History of the Jews in Barbary) Meir Fischels, Paris: 1808

118 pages (8 x 5 1/4 in.; 205 x 135 mm). pagination: (10), 1-100, (8). Manuscript on paper written in brown ink in Judeo-German using Hebrew characters in Ashkenazic cursive script. Some staining and soiling. Original pasteboard worn and with losses.

Collection of Chimen Abramsky

The Barbary Coast, or Barbary, was the term used by Europeans from the 16th until the 19th century to refer to the Maghreb, the middle and western coastal regions of North Africa—what is now Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. The name is derived from the Berber people of North Africa. No historical records remain of the first immigration of Jews into Barbary but according to local lore, Jews have been present since the early days of the Roman Empire. In Geonic times Barbary was one of the centers of Jewish life and during the tumultuous centuries following the rise of Islam, the Jews were frequently sought as allies by warring factions. In one fascinating legend dating back to the 7th century CE, Jews and Berbers united under a Jewish Queen to repel rampaging Islamic forces.

The Jews of the region have long been the subject of interest by outsiders. As early as 1675, an Englishman named Lancelot Addison had printed a history of the "Barabarian Jews."  Although the author of this text, Meir Fischels, calls this manuscript "part one" of his history, no other volume is known and the work was never printed. As a result, this manuscript remains an untapped source for the history of Jews of the region.