Preface Vol 18

<plain_text><page sequence="1">Preface IHE last volume of the Society's Transactions appeared in 1953 and included papers delivered up to the end of 1951. The present volume includes papers A delivered up to the end of the 1954-55 session. Five years intervene therefore between Vols. XVII and XVIII in spite of the hope expressed in the Preface to the former that in future the interval would not exceed two years. Unfortunately, the financial resources of the Society render this impracticable and it is necessary to wait until a sufficient number of papers have accumulated to justify the issue of a volume. The number of papers delivered during the 1955-6 and 1956-7 sessions which will be available for publication happens not to be large, and the next volume of Transactions may therefore be expected about 1959. Albert M. Hyamson Since the appearance of Volume XVII of Transactions, the Society suffered the grievous loss of its Honorary Editor, Albert M. Hyamson, who strove to carry out his editorial work during his last prolonged illness literally to the last day of his life. Tribute to his memory is paid elsewhere in this volume; here it need only be said that the gravity of the loss the Society has suffered is only too patent to the present Editor who realizes how much care and tireless devotion his predecessor must have lavished on all the work he did for the Society. The Society's Headquarters At the beginning of the 1954-5 session, the Society was able to return to the Gustave Tuck Theatre and Museum, as reconstructed to the designs of Sir Albert Richardson, P.P.R.A. A service on the re-opening of the Theatre was conducted by the Very Rev. the Chief Rabbi, a Vice-President of the Society. The Museum has been installed in the gallery of the Theatre and Dr. Siegfried Stein, Goldsmid Lecturer at University College, has undertaken the office of Curator. The Mocatta Library adjacent to the Museum is being re-catalogued and has been enlarged by the acquisition of Mr. Hyamson's extensive library. This was in accordance with his wish and was made possible by the generosity of a few members of the Society who made special donations for the acquisition of this library as a complete entity. The Tercentenary Celebrations The Society co-operated in the arrangements for celebrating the Tercentenary in 1956 of the Re-settlement of the Jews in England. The Society was represented on the Tercentenary Council and was specially concerned in the series of official lectures, almost all of which were delivered in the GustaveTuck Theatre by members of the Council. Many of the exhibits at the Exhibition of Anglo-Jewish Art and History at the Victoria and Albert Museum were lent from the Mocatta Library and the Gustave Tuck Collec? tion. In addition, the Arthur Davis Lecture, given by the then President (Mr. Cecil Roth), which was followed by a reception, was held in the Stern Hall, under the combined auspices of the Society and the Anglo-Jewish Association, as a joint Tercentennial function; there was a record attendance of some 400 persons. ix</page><page sequence="2">X PREFACE Publications Publications issued to members since the last volume of Transactions have been :? (1) The Index to the Society's Transactions I-XV and Miscellanies, I-IV, prepared by Mr. Hyamson; this was sent to members who applied for it; (2) Social History of the Jews in England, 1850-1950 by V. D. Lipman (published by Watts and Co.), the free distribution of which was assisted by a gift from the author; (3) History of the Sunderland Jewish Community by the late Arnold Levy (pub? lished by Macdonald); this was distributed in accordance with the wish of the author by his executors' generosity, without cost to the Society; (4) The Writings of Rabbi Elijah of London (and of his brother, Benedict of Lincoln), Hebrew Text, with a short essay in English by Mr. Cecil Roth, published by the Rav Kook Foundation, Jerusalem, in association with the Society; (5) The 17th Luden Wolf Memorial Lecture by Dr. R. N. Salaman; (6) Sir Hilary Jenkinson's First Presidential Address on Jewish History and Archives; (7) a paper by Sir Hilary Jenkinson based on his second Presidential address on The Medieval Sources for Anglo-Jewish History : the Problem of Publication, Consideration has been given to the project of publishing the remaining Plea Rolls of the Exchequer of the Jews, outlined in Sir Hilary Jenkinson's paper mentioned above. Some offers of practical help have been obtained but it is regretted that difficulties, mainly owing to the financial requirements, are still unsolved; it is still hoped, however, that means will be found to proceed with this most important project. Officers The Presidents during the period under review were Mr. Bertram B. Benas, C.B.E., Sir Hilary Jenkinson, Mr. Cecil Roth (specially re-elected for the Tercentennial year), and Mr. Alfred Rubens. Mr. Hyman Stone was elected Joint-Hon. Treasurer during the illness of Mr. Owen E. Mocatta and became sole Treasurer on Mr. Mocatta's death. The Rev. Arthur Barnett was unable to act as Honorary Secretary during a prolonged illness, but he has now happily resumed his work for the Society; during his illness, Rabbi C. E. Cassell acted as Deputy Honorary Secretary. Mr. V. D. Lipman was elected by the Council as Honorary Editor of Publications after the death of Mr. Hyamson. Obituary Memorial Addresses on the late Albert M. Hyamson and Redcliffe N. Salaman appear in this volume. Others whose passing occurred during the period under review included Mr. Paul Emden, Mr. Arnold Levy and Mr. Owen E. Mocatta. The following is a list of the meetings of the Society since the issue of Volume XVII of Transactions : 1953 3rd Nov. Annual General Meeting. Presidential Address by Sir Hilary Jenkinson, C.B.E., LL.D., F.S.A., on "Jewish History and Archives". Mr. B. B. Benas in the chair. 1st Dec. Mr. A. G. Grimwade, F.S.A,?"Anglo-Jewish Silver" (with illustrations),</page><page sequence="3">PREFACE XI 1954 4th Jan. Dr. S. Stein?"The Jewish Law on Usury and Pre-Expulsion Jewry". 3rd Feb. Prof. Bernard Lewis, Ph.D., F.R.Hist.S.?"The Turkish Archives as a source for Jewish History". 8th Mar. Mr. Edward G. Jamilly?"Anglo-Jewish Architecture in the 18th and 19th Centuries' 17th May Mrs. R. Daiches-Dubens (18th Lady Magnus Memorial Lecture)?"18th Century Anglo-Jewry in and around Richmond, Surrey". 14th June Mr. J. Jacob Neusner?"Anglo-Jewry and the Development of American Jewish Life 1775-1850". 10th Nov. Sir Hilary Jenkinson, C.B.E., LL.D., F.S.A.?Presidential Address. 8th Dec. Mr. Cecil Roth, M.A., D.Phil. (Joseph Jacobs Centennial Lecture)?"Joseph Jacobs, Anglo-Jewish Historian". 1955 11th Jan. Mr. I. Finestein, M.A.?"Sir George Jessel?1824-1883". 16th Feb. Mr. Edgar R. Samuel?"The Portuguese Jews in Jacobean London". 16th Mar. Mr. V. D. Lipman, M.A., D.Phil.?"Three Martyrs of Mediaeval Norwich". 18th May Miss Kathleen Kenyofi, C.B.E., D.Lit., F.S.A.?(Lucien Wolf Memorial Lecture) "The Excavation of Jericho". 15th June Mr. Cecil Roth, M.A., D.Phil.?-"The King and the Cabbalist?New Light on the Baal Shem of London". 26th Oct. Mr. Cecil Roth, M.A., D.Phil. Presidential Address : "The Middle Period of Anglo-Jewish History (1290-1655) Reconsidered". 7th Dec. Dr. J. Maitlis : "Some Yiddish Correspondence between English and Dutch Jewry in the Early 18th Century". 1956 11th Jan. Mr. Harold Soref: "The Anglo-Jewish Press". 15th Feb. Mr. Hugh Harris : "History of the Jewish Year Book". 14th Mar. Mr. I. Finestein : "The Jews of Hull, 1770-1870". 10th May Arthur Davis Lecture?Mr. Cecil Roth, M.A., D.Phil., : "Three Centuries of Anglo-Jewish History : A Characterisation". 25th June The Rev. Arthur Barnett, B.A.?"Sussex Hall?The First Anglo-Jewish Venture in Popular Education". 24th Oct. Mr. Alfred Rubens, F.S.A., F.R.Hist.S., Presidential Address : "Anglo-Jewish History in Pictures". 19th Dec. The Very Reverend Chief Rabbi, Dr. Israel Brodie : "Commonwealth Jewry". 1957 9th Jan. Mr. Harold Fisch, B.A., B.Litt. "The Anglo-Judaism of Israel Zangwill". 11th Feb. Mr. J. M. Cohen : "Ludwig Mond?A German Liberal in Victorian Industry". 13th Mar. Miss Gertrude Azulay : "Isaac Leonini Azulay (1770-1840)"?read by Mr. Richard Barnett. Mr. Jacob Leveen, M.A. : "The Strange Adventures of J. S. Ottolenghi in London and Exeter (1734-5)" 15th May Mr. S. S. Levin, LL.B. : "The Origins of the Jews' Free School". 12th June Rabbi Curtis Cassell: "West Metropolitan Jewish Schools (1845-1897)". Memorial Tribute to Owen Elkin Mocatta, by the Rev. Arthur Barnett, B.A., H.C.F. 20th September, 1957.</page></plain_text>