File:Hope of Israel BEN JOSEPH.jpg

Summary
A facsimile reproduction of the second 1652 English edition frontispiece to Menasseh ben Israel's The Hope of Israel, originally entitled Mikveh Israel (written in Hebrew, c. 1648), a work first published in Latin at Ben Israel's own Amsterdam press in 1650 (as Spes Israelis). Engraved portrait of Ben Israel by Salomo d'Italia, 1642. The Hope of Israel told of the adventures of Portuguese traveler Antonio de Montezinos and his encounter with, what he alleged to be, some of the descendants of Israel's lost Ten Tribes then living among the Andes' Indians of South America. In a future day, according to legend, these remnants would welcome the return of one 'Messiah ben Joseph', who would lead them to victory against Gog and Magog. As a resurrected being, Ben Joseph would be crowned 'viceroy' to 'Messiah ben David' in the Messianic Age. The 1901 reprint of Ben Israel's work by Macmillan & Co. of London for the Jewish Historical Society of England introduces it with the heading, "Menasseh ben Israel's Mission to Oliver Cromwell ... to promote the Re-admission of the Jews to England, 1649-1656." The publication is edited with an introduction and notes by Lucien Wolf, a past president of the historical society.