Schiller-Szinessy Papers

Papers, 1832-1968, of and relating to Soloman Marcus Schiller-Szinessy and his family, owned or created by Raphael Loewe.

- A file of documents from Hungary, 1832-1888, comprises personalia relating to Schiller-Szinessy's activities there, including school reports.

- A file on Schiller-Szinessy's time at Manchester includes correspondence and papers, 1851-1860, on the synagogues of the Manchester Old Hebrew Congregation and Congregation of British Jews, Manchester, and Schiller-Szinessy's association with them as rabbi.

- A file on Schiller-Szinessy's time at Cambridge comprises printed material, press cuttings, manuscripts, and correspondence of Raphael Loewe, and includes a letter to Schiller-Szinessy from Sir Moses Montefiore, 1883, replying to his ninety-ninth birthday greetings, and an unpublished manuscript by Schiller-Szinessy (in German), 1888, on 'Der Neue Catalog Der Hebraischen Handscriften In Der Bodleiana'.

- A file on Schiller-Szinessy's contribution to the Jewish press, 1850-1890, includes press cuttings of his articles and typescript notes on his work. A file on Schiller-Szinessy's other publications includes printed copies and press cuttings of his writings from 1845.

- A file on the marriage, offspring and death of Schiller-Szinessy comprises a letter from H Samuel to Schiller-Szinessy, 1861; papers relating to his marriage, 1863, and other family papers; a photograph of him, 1888; undated photographs of his daughters Henrietta and Eleanor; a photograph, 1963, of his gravestone; cuttings and other printed papers on his death, 1890, including letters of condolence to his wife; notes, cuttings and correspondence, 1962-1968 and undated, of Raphael Loewe on Schiller-Szinessy, including biographical information.

- A file of correspondence and papers of Raphael Loewe concerning Alfred Solomon Schiller-Szinessy includes a small scrapbook containing poems, 1886-1887 and undated, by Alfred S Schiller-Szinessy; a photocopy of an article by Alfred S Schiller-Szinessy on 'The Testaments of the XII Patriarchs' from The 'Jewish World', 1887; and two letters, 1962, concerning his education at the Perse School, Cambridge.

- A file on the Schiller-Szinessy children notably includes correspondence, 1958-1965, of Raphael Loewe on the welfare, death and burial of Sydney Schiller-Szinessy.

Other original material comprises a manuscript transcript of 'Bereshith Rabbathi'; undated manuscript accounts of the Hebrew language, for teaching; bound copies of 'Der Ungarische Israelit' (in German), 1886, for Dr Schiller-Szinessy; a notebook containing manuscript verse and miscellaneous notes, inscribed [1903]. There is a typescript list of documents relating to Schiller-Szinessy, 1940, and a ticket for an address by Raphael Loewe on Schiller-Szinessy, 1962.

Solomon Marcus Schiller-Szinessy: born in Budapest, Hungary, 1820; educated for the rabbinical profession; PhD in mathematics and philosophy, University of Jena (Germany), 1845; on the failure of the 1848 revolution, fled Hungary and settled in England, 1850; rabbi of the Manchester Old Hebrew Congregation (later the United Hebrew Congregation of Manchester) from 1851; rabbi of the Manchester Congregation of British Jews, c1856-1860; married Georgiana Eleanor Herbert (1831-1901), who converted to Judaism and was baptised Sarah, 1863; moved to Cambridge, 1863; Teacher in Talmudic and Rabbinic Literature, University of Cambridge, from 1866; first Reader in Talmudic and Rabbinic Literature, University of Cambridge, from 1876; had issue Alfred Solomon (b 1863), Theresa Antonia (1864-1865), Eleanor, Henrietta Georgiana (1869-1939), and Sydney Herbert (1876-1964); died in Cambridge, 1890; buried in Ipswich. Publications include: 'Der Bund Gottes mit Israel! Gottesdienstlicher Vortrag über Jes 59, 21 zur ersten Confirmationsfeier ... im Tempel der Israeliten zu Eperies gehalten' (Leipzig, 1845); 'Die zweite Rabbinerversammlung zu Frankfurt a.M. Eine vollstandige Beleuchtung der Tendenz ... so wie insonders des Geistes, der bei und in derselben vorwaltend war. Zweite Auflage. Hefte 1, 2' (Leipzig, 1845-1846); 'The Feelings of the Israelite on beholding his Sovereign. An address delivered to the United Hebrew Congregation of Manchester, etc' (Manchester, 1851); 'Harmony and Dis-harmony between Judaism and Christianity. Two sermons preached ... at the Manchester Synagogue of British Jews, etc' (Manchester, [1859]); with William A Wright, appendix containing a catalogue of the Hebrew and Samaritan MSS in E H Palmer, 'A Descriptive Catalogue of the Arabic, Persian, and Turkish Manuscripts in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge' (Deighton, Bell & Co, Cambridge, Bell & Daldy, London, 1870); 'Catalogue of the Hebrew Manuscripts preserved in the University Library, Cambridge ... Volume I. Containing, Section I. The Holy Scriptures. Section II. Commentaries on the Bible' (Cambridge, 1876); 'An Exposition of Isaiah lii 13, 14, 15, and liii., etc' (Deighton, Bell & Co, Cambridge, 1882); studies on Rabbinic literature in the 'Encylopaedia Britannica'; contributions to the 'Journal of Philology' and other periodicals. See also Raphael Loewe, 'Solomon Marcus Schiller-Szinessy', 'Jewish Historical Society of England Transactions Sessions 1962-1967', xxi (1968), pp 148-189, which includes a bibliography. Raphael Loewe: appointed temporary Lecturer in the Hebrew Department, University College London, 1961; Honorary Research Assistant, 1962; Lecturer, 1966; Senior Lecturer, 1969; Reader, 1970; Professor, 1981; retired, 1984. Publications include: 'Judaism, Privilege and Perspective' (Parkes Library, Royston, 1962); 'The position of women in Judaism' (SPCK, London, published in conjunction with the Hillel Foundation, 1966); edited 'Studies in Rationalism, Judaism & Universalism. In memory of Leon Roth' (Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, Humanities Press, New York, 1966); with Siegfried Stein, edited 'Studies in Jewish religious and intellectual history presented to Alexander Altmann on the occasion of his seventieth birthday' (Institute of Jewish Studies, London, University of Alabama Press, 1979); 'The Spanish supplement to Nieto's "Esh Dath"' (1981); 'Yahadut ve-shirah - metihut 'o yetsiyrah' (Kenes, London, 1984); 'Jewish evidence for the history of the crossbow' (Picard, Paris, 1985); 'Louis Loewe: aide and confidant' (Oxford University Press, London, 1985); 'Lashon 'vrit u-medabreyhah: 'eved we-rabo' (London, 1987); 'The Rylands Haggadah' (Abrams, New York, 1988); 'In memoriam Richard David Barnett' (Jewish Historical Society of London, London, 1988); 'A mediaeval Latin-German magical text in Hebrew characters' (Halban, London, 1988); 'Ibn Gabirol' (Halban, London, 1989) 'Cambridge Jewry: the first hundred years' (Harvey Miller publishers, London, 1989); translated Yosef Kaplan's 'From Christianity to Judaism: the story of Isaac Orobio de Castro' (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1989); 'Jewish exegesis' (SCM, London, 1990); 'The contribution of German-Jewish scholars to Jewish studies in the United Kingdom' (1991); 'Israel's sovereign statehood and theological plumb-lines' (E Mellen, Lewiston, 1991); 'Midrashic alchemy: exegesis, ethics, aesthetics in Judaism' (KTAV Publishing House, Hoboken, NJ, 1992; offprint from '"Open thou mine eyes": essays on Aggahdah and Judaica presented to Rabbi William G Braude'); with Jeremy Schonfield, edited 'The Barcelona Haggadah' (London, 1992); with Edward Fitzgerald, 'Khayyamidis Rubayat sive Quaternionum ...' (London, 1993); 'Hebrew linguistics' (Longman, London and New York, 1994); with others, 'Bevis Marks records Part VI, The burial register (1733-1918) of the Novo (New) cemetery of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews' Congregation, London (with some later entries)' (1997); 'Herbert of Bosham's Commentary on Jerome's Hebrew Psalter' [undated?].

The papers are as arranged and used by Raphael Loewe for his research on Schiller-Szinessy.

Certain restrictions apply

The papers are available subject to the usual conditions of access to Archives and Manuscripts material, after the completion of a Reader's Undertaking. Some papers may be restricted under data protection legislation. Please contact Special Collections for further information.

Transferred from the Mocatta Library (subsequently the Jewish Studies Library) of University College London in 1993.

A collection level record is available on the online catalogue. The collection has also been listed by Raphael Loewe in 'Solomon Marcus Schiller-Szinessy', 'Jewish Historical Society of England Transactions Sessions 1962-1967', xxi (1968), pp 166-72.

Some documents are accompanied by typed transcripts.

Normal copyright restrictions apply.

Acquired by Raphael Loewe's father, c1939, presented to University College London by Raphael Loewe, c1968, and held with other Jewish collections in the Mocatta Library of University College London.

University College London Special Collections also holds a letter from Schiller-Szinessy to Moses Gaster, 1888 (Ref: GASTER). University College London Records Office holds Loewe's personnel files (Ref: GO 1497/1, HR 130/10); file on Donations and Bequests: Professor Raphael Loewe (Ref: file no 299/346, location GO 2375/5).