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Inventory of the William A. Rosenthall Judaica collection, 1493-2002
Inventory of the William A. Rosenthall Judaica collection, 1493-2002
Descriptive Summary
| Abstract: | Judaica postcards, prints and posters, periodicals, clippings, philatelic materials, greeting cards, medals, textiles, ephemera, and subject files collected by Rabbi William A. Rosenthall. Materials date from the late 15th to 20th century and document Jewish life on every continent except Antarctica. These materials are mainly iconographic in nature, including artwork depicting many aspects of Jewish history, religion, customs, and daily life. They cover topics such as Jewish holidays, clothing and dress, ghettos and neighborhoods, educational and charitable institutions, emigration and immigration, prominent individuals, cemeteries and tombs, synagogues, biblical scenes, Zionism, and antisemitism. In addition, collecting files document Rosenthall's work in acquiring the materials in the collection. |
| Title: | William A. Rosenthall Judaica collection |
| Creator: | Rosenthall, William A. |
| Date(s): | 1493-2002 (bulk 1568-1995) |
| Extent: | 81.5 linear feet (58 flat boxes, 5 postcard boxes, 28 document boxes, 1 slim document box, 38 oversize folders) |
| Repository: | Special Collections, College of Charleston Libraries 66 George Street Charleston, SC 29424 Phone: (843) 953-8016 Fax: (843) 953-6319 URL: http://archives.library.cofc.edu |
| Call Number: | Mss 1086 |
| Language of Material: | Materials in Czech, Dutch, English, French, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Latin, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Ukrainian, and Yiddish. |
Biographical and Historical Note
William A. Rosenthall was born in Kenton, Ohio, on March 8, 1927, to Gordon and Florence Rosenthall. He enlisted in the army in June 1945 upon completing high school, and subsequently enrolled at Brooklyn College in Brooklyn, New York. After two years, Rosenthall transferred to Syracuse University, where he earned his bachelor's degree in English, graduating magna cum laude in 1950. In 1951, he entered the rabbinical program at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, Ohio. He graduated in 1956 as president of his class with a bachelor's and master's of Hebrew letters and was ordained as a rabbi. He held the position of assistant rabbi at Washington Hebrew Congregation in Washington, D.C., for a year, then resigned in order to pursue study in Europe and Israel. During his time in Washington, Rosenthall met Irene Ostrower, whom he married in 1957. Their son Gordon was born in 1963 and daughter Marcia in 1966.
After returning to the United States in 1958, Rosenthall became rabbi of Woodsdale Temple in Wheeling, West Virginia. He left the position in 1962 to become the executive director of the World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ), a post he held for more than a decade. When the WUPJ headquarters moved overseas in 1972, Rabbi Rosenthall resigned as executive director, but remained active in the organization's governing body. He also remained active in the International and Latin American Commissions of the American Jewish Committee and the Latin American Committee of the Anti-Defamation League.
Rosenthall next held interim positions at synagogues in New York before relocating to Charleston in 1976 to become the rabbi of Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim (KKBE). This was Rosenthall's last and longest tenure, extending from 1976 to 2005. In Charleston, Rosenthall spearheaded efforts to promote interfaith cooperation and served as president of the Christian-Jewish Council of Charleston and the Ministerial Association of Greater Charleston. He served on the boards of the Carolina Art Association and The Charleston Museum and on the Collections Committee of the Gibbes Museum of Art, and he assisted in establishing the Yaschik/Arnold Jewish Studies Program at the College of Charleston. He was also involved in the Charleston Jewish Fund as part of the Community Relations Committee.
Rabbi Rosenthall's great passion was collecting Judaica, including prints, postcards, medals, stamps, and books and other published materials, depicting every aspect of Jewish life and culture. Rosenthall began collecting as a young man and continued adding to his Judaica collection throughout his life. As a scholar and collector, Rosenthall lectured on Jewish graphic arts and exhibited portions of his collection at the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, Savannah College of Art and Design, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute for Religion in Cincinnati, and the Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington.
After almost three decades of serving the congregation, William Rosenthall retired from KKBE in 1992, but remained rabbi emeritus until his death on April 30, 2005.
Collection Overview
The William A. Rosenthall Judaica Collection is comprised primarily of postcards, prints and posters, periodicals, clippings, philatelic materials, greeting cards, medals, subject files, and collecting files. The collection also includes ephemera, photographs, textiles, stereoscopes, calendars, and other miscellaneous formats. These materials document the history, religious practices, customs, and daily life of Jewish communities around the world. Collection materials originate from every continent except Antarctica, include over a dozen languages, and span five centuries.
Each of the topics represented in the William A. Rosenthall Judaica Collection can be found in both iconographic and textual materials across a wide array of formats. These materials depict spaces and scenes of Jewish religious life, such as synagogue architecture and services, holiday celebrations, and prayer and rituals. The collection portrays ceremonies pertaining to the Jewish life cycle, including birth, circumcision, bar mitzvah, marriage, and death and mourning, in both the synagogue and the home. Scenes of Jewish daily life can be found in images of Jewish institutions and charities, Jewish neighborhoods, ghettos, and marketplaces, and depictions of common Jewish professions and Jewish clothing and dress. The collection also contains images of landmarks in Palestine and Israel, including the tombs of prominent figures in Jewish history; cemeteries and tombs in North America, Europe, and North Africa; and portraits of many prominent Jewish figures-academics, artists, authors, bankers, military leaders, musicians, philosophers, philanthropists, politicians, rabbis, and Zionists. Illustrations of biblical figures and scenes round out the iconographic portion of the collection.
Periodicals and clippings provide additional documentation of significant Jewish communal events, such as weddings, funerals, synagogue consecrations, organization fundraisers and fairs, and social activities. The subject of antisemitism is represented through both text and caricatures in periodicals and clippings, as well as throughout the iconographic portions of the collection through caricatures and images of persecution and exile, which are often accompanied by scenes of emigration.
Besides Judaica materials, the collection contains records documenting Rosenthall's collecting efforts, including extensive correspondence with dealers, galleries, and fellow Judaica collectors, as well as invoices and shipping documents for purchases. These records provide insight into the time that Rosenthall invested in amassing his collection and reflect his expressed desire that it provide the most broad and comprehensive view of Jewish life possible. Exhibits and publications featuring portions of the collection are also documented through correspondence, loan agreements, and clippings.
Collection Arrangement
| 1. | Postcards, 1897-2003 |
| 2. | Prints and posters, 1493-1999, undated |
| 3. | Periodicals, 1768-1993 |
| 4. | Clippings, 1790-2003 |
| 5. | Stamps, 1903-2000, undated |
| 6. | Objects, 1819-1993 |
| 7. | Rosh Hashanah greeting cards, circa 1900-1984 |
| 8. | Records, forms, and correspondence,circa 1810-1986 |
| 9. | Ephemera,1895-1990, undated |
| 10. | Stereoscopes, 1868-1906, undated |
| 11. | Collecting files, 1951-2002 |
| 12. | Exhibits and publications, 1964-1995 |
| 13. | Subject files, 1856-2002, undated |
| 14. | Miscellaneous formats, 1919-1933, undated |
Search Terms
The following terms have been used to index this collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person, family, or organization, by topical subject, by place, and by types of material.Names
- Rosenthall, William A.
Subjects
- Antisemitism
- Bible stories
- Collectors and collecting
- Fasts and feasts--Judaism
- Jewish art
- Jewish cemeteries
- Jewish clothing and dress
- Jewish ghettos
- Jewish neighborhoods
- Jews in art
- Jews in public life
- Jews--Charities
- Jews--Education
- Jews--Intellectual life
- Jews--Migrations
- Jews--Social life and customs
- Jews--Societies, etc.
- Judaism--Customs and practices
- Judaism--Liturgical objects
- Synagogues
- Tombs
- Zionism
Places
- Africa, North
- Australia
- East Asia
- Europe, Central
- Europe, Eastern
- Europe, Western
- Middle East
- North America
- South Africa
- South America
- South Asia
- United States
Types of Material
- Calendars
- Caricatures
- Clippings (information artifacts)
- Correspondence
- First day covers
- Greeting cards
- Invoices
- Maps (documents)
- Medals
- Periodicals
- Photographs
- Postage stamps
- Postcards
- Posters
- Printed ephemera
- Prints (visual works)
- Sheet music
- Stereoscopes
- Textiles (visual works)
Related Material
Related materials in Special Collections include the Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim congregation records, 1798-2002 (MSS 1047) and the William A. Rosenthall Papers (mss 1087)
Separated Material
Published items removed and cataloged separately.
Detailed Description of the Collection
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1. Postcards, 1897-2003
Postcards consist of two subseries: postcard portfolios organized by Rosenthall according to topic, and loose postcards organized by topics consistent with the established organizational scheme. Postcards feature photographs, illustrations, and artwork reproductions of synagogues, religious rituals, biblical figures and scenes, historical scenes, Israel and Palestine, holiday greetings, prominent Jewish figures, Jewish ghettos and neighborhoods, cemeteries and tombs, and Jewish institutions. Postcard dates reflect a copyright date or, in cases where copyright is not available, a postmark date.
Albums organized by Rosenthall according to topical subject. These portfolios include postcards featuring the following: synagogues, cemeteries and tombs, Rosh Hashanah cards, biblical scenes, Jewish institutions, Jewish ghettos and neighborhoods, prominent Zionists, Jewish military leaders, antisemitism and caricatures, Jewish authors and artists, humor, songs, artwork reproductions, and miscellaneous topics. Of note are a significant number of postcards depicting synagogues that have since been destroyed or are no longer in use as synagogues. All portfolios feature color and black-and-white postcards.
Postcards with photographic images, illustrations, and artwork reproductions of synagogues in Belgium, England, Finland, France, Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Wales.
Postcards with photographic images, illustrations, and artwork reproductions of synagogues in Belgium, England, France, the Netherlands, and Spain.
Postcards with photographic images, illustrations, and artwork reproductions of synagogues in Austria, Germany, France, and Poland.
Postcards with photographic images, illustrations, and artwork reproductions of synagogues in Germany and Poland.
Postcards with photographic images, illustrations, and artwork reproductions of synagogues in Algeria, Argentina, Aruba, Australia, Barbados, Canada, China, Egypt, India, Israel, Libya, Morocco, Curaçao (originally filed under the Netherlands), New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Suriname, Syria, Tunisia, and the United States Virgin Islands.
Postcards with photographic images and illustrations of synagogues in the United States, particularly Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
Postcards with photographic images and illustrations of synagogues in the United States, particularly Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Oregon, and Utah.
Postcards with photographic images and illustrations of Jewish cemeteries and the tombs of biblical and distinguished figures. Includes cemeteries in Austria, Belarus, the Czech Republic, Germany, Guatemala, Latvia, Poland, and Russia. All tombs are located in Israel and include such prominent Jewish figures as Rabbi Isaac ben Solomon Luria, Baron Edmond de Rothschild, Joseph Trumpeldor, and Rabbi Simon bar Yochai. Tombs of biblical figures include Abraham, Absalom, King David, Rachel, and Sarah.
Postcards with photographic images and illustrations of Jewish cemeteries and the tombs of prominent Jewish figures. Includes Jewish cemeteries in Algeria, Bosnia and Hercegovina, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Curaçao (originally filed under the Netherlands), Poland, Tunisia, Russia, Ukraine, and the United States. Tombs are located in Austria, Israel, and Morocco and include figures such as Ephraim Alnaqua, Thedor Herzl, and Chaim Weizmann.
Rosh Hashanah postcards bearing traditional New Year's greetings in Hebrew. The majority feature decorative illustrations centered around flowers and birds. Other common imagery includes Zionist symbols, immigration to the United States, depictions of Rosh Hashanah customs and prayers, and ceremonial objects.
Postcards with reproductions of paintings of biblical scenes by Anton Robert Leinweber. Included are scenes from the books of Genesis, Exodus, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Job, and Daniel.
Rosh Hashanah postcards bearing traditional New Year's greetings in Hebrew. Illustrations include weddings, images of couples, blessings of children, and rabbis with ceremonial objects as well as holiday customs of other Jewish holidays such as Sukkot, Simchat Torah, and Yom Kippur (specifically kapparot and tashlikh), while also bearing Rosh Hashanah greetings. Of note are a significant number of postcards featuring men and women waving Zionist flags and a series of photographic postcards featuring scenes of life cycle events staged under an Etz Chaim (Tree of Life). The majority of postcards feature short poems in Yiddish.
Rosh Hashanah postcards bearing traditional New Year's greetings in Hebrew. Illustrations include people going to synagogue, family scenes, and depictions of common Jewish professions. The majority of postcards feature short poems in Yiddish.
Postcards with photographic images and illustrations of Jewish institutions such as schools, orphanages, homes for the aged, and hospitals. Also included are a smaller number of more specialized institutions, such the Jewish Consumptives' Relief Society, charitable institutions of the Deutsch-Israelitischer Gemeindebund, and rabbinical seminaries. The majority of institutions are located in the United States, with a small number in Austria, Canada, Germany, Israel, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, and Ukraine.
Postcards with photographic images and illustrations of Jewish community centers, Palestine and Israel pavilions at various world expositions, and the Arch of Titus in Italy.
Postcards with photographic images, illustrations, and artwork reproductions of synagogues in the United States, particularly Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island.
Postcards with photographic images and illustrations of synagogues in the United States, particularly Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
Postcards with photographic images and illustrations of synagogues in the United States, particularly Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Of note are a significant number of postcards documenting former locations of congregations that have since relocated.
Postcards with photographic images, illustrations, and artwork reproductions of Jewish ghettos and neighborhoods in Belarus, the Czech Republic, England, Germany, Israel, Italy, Libya, Lithuania, Morocco, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United States. Specific locations of note include the neighborhood of Mea Shearim in Jerusalem, the Jewish ghettos in Prague and Frankfurt am Main, the Lower East Side in New York, and the mellah in Fes.
Postcards with photographic images, illustrations, and artwork reproductions of Jewish ghettos and neighborhoods, homes of prominent Jewish figures, and places that include the word "Jew" in their names. Neighborhoods, markets, and streets are located in England, France, Germany, Poland, and Ukraine. Of note are postcards depicting Adolph Carl von Rothschild's home, the Château de Pregny, and a significant number featuring the Jew's House in Lincoln, England.
Postcards featuring illustrations and photographs of rabbis and Jewish leaders. Examples include Rabbi Jacob ben Asher, Benjamin Disraeli, Theodor Herzl, Rabbi Joseph ben Ephraim Karo, Rabbi Moses Maimonides, and Rashi.
Postcards featuring illustrations and photographs of Jewish leaders, such as Zionists, lawyers, politicians, humanitarians, diplomats, and military officers. Examples include Arthur James Balfour, David Ben-Gurion, Ahad Ha'am, Max Simon Nordau, Joseph Trumpeldor, and Chaim Weizmann.
Postcards featuring illustrations of religious rituals and ceremonies, especially those associated with Jewish holidays. Examples include Passover seders, the Rosh Hashanah rituals of tashlikh and blowing the shofar, and the Yom Kippur ritual of kapparot. Of note are many images depicting ritual objects such as Torah scrolls, tefillin and tallitot. A majority bear New Year's greetings or blessings in Hebrew.
Postcards with reproductions of artwork by Samuel Seeberger and Morris Katz illustrating religious rituals and ceremonies, especially those associated with Jewish holidays. Examples include Yom Kippur services, Passover seders, and blowing the shofar on Rosh Hashanah. Also bar mitzvahs, weddings, prayers and blessings, and Sabbath meals. Of note are many images featuring ritual objects such as Torah scrolls, tefillin and tallitot.
Postcards with photographic images, illustrations, and artwork reproductions of synagogues in Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Ukraine.
Postcards with photographic images, illustrations, and artwork reproductions of synagogues in Belarus, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, and Ukraine.
Postcards with photographic images, illustrations, and artwork reproductions of synagogues in the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia.
Postcards with photographic images, illustrations, and artwork reproductions of synagogues in the Czech Republic and Italy.
Postcards with reproductions of paintings by Morritz Oppenheim and Hermann Junker. Also included are a small number of reproductions of artwork by other artists. Common themes include life cycle events, such as marriage and bar mitzvah, and holidays, such as Sukkot, Purim, Passover, and Rosh Hashanah.
Postcards with reproductions of artwork by Alphonse Lévy, Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, and Marc Chagall. Also included are a small number of reproductions of artwork by other artists. Common themes include religious rituals such as tashlikh, havdalah, and sitting shiva, food preparation for Passover and Sabbath meals, and holidays such as Rosh Hashanah.
Postcards with photographic images and illustrations related to antisemitic accusations and persecutions, such as blood libel, host desecration, exile, pogroms, and sites of concentration camps. Also included are images of memorials for Jews killed in pogroms and the Holocaust.
Postcards include photographs, illustrations, and artwork reproductions featuring images related to the Holocaust, historical trials of Jewish individuals, such as Alfred Dreyfus, Zionist Congress meetings, Jewish soldiers during World War I, Jewish institutions, such as the Jewish Hospitality House in Boston, Massachusetts, and Jewish characters in literature and theater. Of note is a series of postcards issued by the Jewish Welfare Board featuring World War I steamships, and a significant number of postcards featuring holiday greetings for Hanukkah, Purim, Passover, and Rosh Hashanah.
Postcards with photographs and illustrations of prominent Jewish authors and a small number of Jewish scientists and socialists. Examples include Moses Leib Lilienblum, Perez Smolenskin, Jacob Dineson, Isaac Meir Weissenberg, Mordecai Spector, Abraham Reisen, David Frishman, Mendele Mocher Sforim, and Semen Grigorevich Frug. The majority of individuals from this portfolio are from from Poland, Ukraine, and Russia.
Postcards with photographs and illustrations of prominent Jewish authors, artists, scientists, and politicians. Examples include Eliezer Ben Yehuda, Sholem Aleichem, Isaac Leib Peretz, Hayim Nahman Bialik, Sholem Asch, Jozef Israe?ls, Ephraim Moses Lilien, and Ludwik Lazar Zamenhof.
Postcards with photographic portraits of anonymous Jewish individuals wearing examples of traditional everyday and formal dress from Bukhara, Germany, Greece, Israel, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, and Yemen.
Postcards with photographic portraits of anonymous Jewish individuals wearing examples of traditional everyday and formal dress from Bukhara, Germany, Greece, Israel, Morocco, Republic of Iraq, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, and Yemen.
Postcards with photographic portraits of anonymous Jewish individuals wearing examples of traditional everyday and formal dress from Germany, Poland, and Russia.
Postcards with photographic images, illustrations, and artwork reproductions of groups and individuals praying at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Of note are postcards with panoramic views of the Temple Mount that includes the Western Wall and the Dome of the Rock.
Postcards with photographic images, illustrations, and artwork reproductions of groups and individuals praying at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Of note are postcards with panoramic views of the Temple Mount that includes the Western Wall and the Dome of the Rock.
Most of the postcards feature photographic images of families, young children, and couples, and a selection depicting women and children dressed as angels. Other common imagery includes various modes of transportation, such as people on bicycles and in cars, boats, planes, and hot air balloons. A smaller portion feature illustrations of children and cartoon-style scenes. Alongside the images, Hebrew text offers traditional New Year's greetings wishing good luck and prosperity. Poems often wish the recipient luck, good tidings, a good new year, and at times more romantic sentiments. Occasionally cards portray religious themes, such as New Year's wishes that feature rabbis, blessings, and ceremonial objects. Not all postcards are New Year's cards, but almost all include a short Yiddish poem.
Most of the postcards feature illustrations of children, cartoon-style scenes, and women posed in portraits. Almost all include Yiddish poems wishing the recipient luck, good tidings, a good new year, and at times more romantic sentiments. A portion include New Year's greetings.
Postcards dating from the early 20th century with antisemitic caricatures, including common stereotypes of Jews as cheap, unfair businessmen. Often Jews are portrayed with large noses, speaking heavily-accented English. A significant portion of the caricature postcards include German or Yiddish captions. A small number are lighthearted, humorous cards, and another group feature popular song lyrics printed in Hebrew and Yiddish.
Postcards dating from the early 20th century with antisemitic caricatures, including common stereotypes of Jews as cheap, unfair businessmen. Often Jews are portrayed with large noses, speaking heavily-accented English. A significant portion of the caricature postcards include German or Yiddish captions. A small number are lighthearted, humorous cards, and another group feature popular song lyrics printed in Hebrew and Yiddish.
Postcards with photographic images of ceremonial objects used in religious services, holiday customs, and daily life. Examples include Torah scrolls and ornaments such as covers, finials, and breastplates. Also includes examples of menorot. Most objects pictured are from museum collections.
Postcards with photographic images of ceremonial objects used in religious services, holiday customs, and daily life. Examples include menorot, kiddush cups, spice boxes, seder plates, mezuzot, and sukkot.
Postcards with photographic images of synagogue dÉcor, including stained glass windows, mosaics from ancient synagogues in Israel, and museum objects, such as biblical manuscripts.
Postcards with photographic images of Judaica from museum collections, such as marriage contracts, ancient coins, and textiles. The portfolio also includes photographs of Jewish museum exteriors and displays.
Postcards with reproductions of artwork by Stanislaus Bender, Wilhelm August Stryowski, Friedrich Kaskeline, Lazar Krestin, Isidor Kaufmann, and other artists. Common topics include depictions of unidentified Jews, holiday rituals, such as kapparot and tashlikh, life cycle events, such as marriage, and men and children studying and praying.
Postcards with reproductions of artwork by Jozef Israëls, Samuel Hirszenberg, and other artists. Common topics include depictions of unidentified Jews, holiday rituals, such as kapparot and tashlikh, life cycle events, such as marriage, and men and children studying and praying.
Postcards with reproductions of artwork by J. Edelmann, Eduard Frankfort, Otto Herschel, Mané Katz, Grete Katz, David Kohn, Maurycy Minkowski, Leopold Pilichowski, Mykola Kornylovych Pymonenko, Gerard Johan Staller, Hermann Struck, Jakob Weinleis, and several other artists. Topics include scenes form daily life, Torah study and prayer, education of children, holiday scenes from Sukkot, Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah, Shabbat, and portraits of unknown Jews.
Postcards with reproductions of artwork by Blanka Federn-Lipschütz, Hermann Junker, Artur Markowicz, Wilhelm Wachtel, Max Weber, and several other artists.Topics include scenes from daily life, such as street scenes, depictions of anonymous Jews, and Torah study. A few postcards feature ceremonial objects, character types and costumes, images of immigration, and lifecycle events.
Postcards with reproductions of artwork by Todros Geller, Ephraim Moses Lilien, Abel Pann, and Bernard Picart. Topics include depictions of unknwon Jews and scenes of holiday celebrations in the synagogue and the home. Also included are photographs of sculptures in museum collections, incorporated into building exteriors, or created as public monuments.
Postcards with reproductions of artwork by Meir Gur-Arie depicting scenes in Palestine and photographs of sculptures in museum collections, incorporated into building exteriors, or created as public monuments. Of note are a significant number with collages portraying Jewish individuals and holiday rituals.
Postcards with reproductions of paintings and photographs of sculptures and monuments of biblical figures and scenes, including creation, Adam and Eve, Abraham, Hagar and Ishmael, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and Deborah.
Postcards with reproductions of paintings and photographs of sculptures and monuments of biblical figures and scenes, including illustrations related to each of the Ten Commandments, and depictions of Moses, Miriam, and Deborah. Of note are several sculptures of Moses.
Postcards with reproductions of paintings, sculptures, and monuments of biblical figures and scenes, including Samson, Samuel, David and Goliath, Solomon, Elijah, and Ruth.
Postcards with reproductions of paintings, sculptures, and monuments portraying biblical figures and scenes, including, Daniel, Esther, Judith, and Sarah. Also included are postcards featuring reproductions from Palestine: 10 pictures by Ze'ev Raban.
Postcards with images on topics including Jewish businesses and institutions, places that use the word "Jew" in their names, photographs of biblical reenactments, illustrations of historical scenes, groups of people associated with Jewish organizations, monuments pertaining to Jewish history, and images promoting events.
Postcards with images of Jews with protest signs, at work in various occupations, in musical bands, advertisments, event posters, and Torah scribes. The latter portion of this album contains photographic postcards depicting the everyday life of Jewish individuals in Israel.
Postcards with no original order have been arranged by topical subject. The majority of loose postcards feature locations in Israel and Palestine. These include both urban and rural scenes, ranging from views of Haifa, Jerusalem, and Tel Aviv, to Judean Desert landscapes. A significant number of postcards depict Jerusalem, including neighborhoods, institutions, gates in the Old City, and the Western Wall. Other postcards feature images of synagogues, Jewish cemeteries and tombs, works of Jewish artists, holdings of prominent Jewish museums, Rosh Hashanah cards, images of rabbis, and illustrations of traditional Jewish clothing. All topics in this subseries include both black-and-white and color postcards, with the exceptions of Rabbis and Types.
Postcards with reproductions of paintings depicting scenes of Jewish life, works by Jewish artists, and photographs of manuscript illustrations. Also includes postcards documenting holdings of Jewish museums in France, Israel, and the Netherlands.
Postcards with photographic images and illustrations of Jewish cemeteries, particularly the Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague, as well as tombs of biblical figures and prominent Jewish individuals, including the Tomb of Absalom, Rachel's Tomb, and the tomb of Theodor Herzl.
Postcards with photographic images and illustrations of urban and rural scenes from each of the six administrative districts of Israel. Images date from both before and after the founding of the State of Israel. Of note are a large number of postcards of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv featuring street scenes, significant buildings, neighborhoods, and panoramic views. Also included are locations in the West Bank, natural landmarks, and photographs of the Jewish Legion.
Postcards bearing New Year's greetings in Hebrew, the majority of which are photographic images or color illustrations of families accepting visitors or gathered around a table. A smaller number feature panoramas or compilations of scenes from cities in Israel or photographs of trees and fruits.
Postcards featuring photographs and illustrations of interior and exterior views of synagogues located across four continents. Of note are complete postcard sets from Israel, Poland, and Spain depicting either a single synagogue or multiple synagogues from a specific city.
2. Prints and Posters, 1493-1999, undated
Prints consist of lithographs, engravings, and off-set reproductions. Prints feature the following subjects: history, religion, architecture, education, prominent figures, antisemitism, neighborhoods, and traditions. Posters include both individual posters and poster sets on a range of subject matter: support for organizations and war efforts, protests against anti-Semitism, prominent Jewish figures, synagogues, children's teaching aids, maps, cartoons and caricatures of 20th century American and Israeli culture, and artwork reproductions. Event posters promote plays, museum exhibitions, conferences, and memorial occasions. Some poster sets are intended as exhibits for display.
Prints consist of lithographs, engravings, and off-set reproductions divided into three subseries: albums Rosenthall organized by topical subject, individual prints with no original order, and a small number of printed textiles. The loose prints have been arranged by topical subjects consistent with Rosenthall's original organization of the albums. Prints feature the following subjects: history, religion, architecture, education, prominent figures, antisemitism, neighborhoods, and traditions.
Albums organized by Rosenthall according to topical subject. These portfolios feature the following subjects: synagogues, photographs, costumes, portraits, caricatures, artwork reproductions, sheet music, maps, ceremonies, cemeteries, places, and biblical illustrations. All portfolios include both black-and-white and color prints.
Prints of synagogues in Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain. The portfolio includes some images of events and celebrations taking place inside the synagogues, such as synagogue dedications, Purim celebrations, and sermons.
Black-and-white prints of synagogues in Germany and Poland.
Black-and-white photographs of synagogues in Australia, Austria, Canada, Curaçao (originally filed as the Nethlerlands), the Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Switzerland, Tunisia, and the United States. Also includes a small number of prints featuring images of Jewish individuals. Examples include portraits of rabbis, an actor portraying the character of Shylock from The Merchant of Venice, Jewish men doing business on a street in Vilnius, and a Jewish farmer with his son.
Black-and-white photographs of synagogues in Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Lithuania, Turkey, and the United States. Also includes color and black-and-white prints featuring images of Jewish cemeteries in Prague and Vienna, the Arch of Titus in Rome, the Jewish ghetto in Rome, the Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium in Tel Aviv, and a portrait of Rabbi Leopold Löw.
Depictions of unidentified Jewish individuals wearing examples of traditional dress from North African countries, particularly Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia.
Portraits dating from the early 19th century of prominent Jewish figures, including a small number of caricatures. Figures include prominent businessmen, scholars, philanthropists, and rabbis who lived primarily during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Examples include Rabbi Isaac ben Jacob Alfasi, Abraham Goldsmid, Moses Mendelssohn, Rabbi Salomone Olper, and Nathan Mayer Rothschild.
Antisemitic caricatures, the majority published in satirical magazines Puck and Judge. Examples of subject matter include: increases in Jewish immigration, Jewish businessmen swindling customers, and portrayals of Jews as greedy, untrustworthy businessmen, always desperate to save or make money. Many portray fathers instilling an obsession with money in their children. Jewish figures are depicted with exaggerated noses and speaking with Eastern European accents to denote their status as recent immigrants. A small number of these materials are in French and German.
Antisemitic caricatures, the majority published in Life magazine and satirical magazines Puck and Judge. Examples of subject matter include: increases in Jewish immigration and portrayals of Jews as untrustworthy, unethical businessmen, desperate to save or make money. Of note are several with negative comments on the impact of Jewish involvement in theater.
Reproductions of artwork by Isidor Kaufmann, Stanislaus Bender, Jack Levine, Gabriela Rosenthal (plates from Odd Corners in Jerusalem: 12 Coloured Drawings), Arthur Szyk, Marc Chagall, Alphonse Lévy, and Ze'ev Raban (plates from חגינו: תּמו נותּספּר Hagenu: sefer temunot). Included are portraits of historical figures, and depictions of Jewish men at prayer, holiday celebrations, life cycle events, and scenes from daily life.
Covers and sheet music for musicals and songs, including a significant number in French and Yiddish and a small number in German.
Maps set in biblical times through the 19th and 20th centuries. Locations include biblical Canaan, ancient Jerusalem, Amsterdam, Palestine, the United States, Franzensbad (Františkovy Lázně, Czech Republic), and Asia. Of note is a floor plan for the General Austrian Jewish Institute for Deaf-Mutes in Vienna (Das Allgemeine Österreichische Israelitische Taubstummen-Institut in Wien).
Portraits of prominent Jewish authors, artists, businessmen, philanthropists, politicians, and actresses of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Examples include Sholem Aleichem, Hayim Nahman Bialik, Sarah Bernhardt, Judah P. Benjamin, Alfred Dreyfus, Albert Einstein, Rachel Félix (known as Mademoiselle Rachel), Thedor Herzl, Jozef Israëls, Moses Montefiore, Joshua Van Oven. James Mayer de Rothschild, and Israel Zangwill.
Prints of holiday customs, life cycle events, and ceremonial objects. Examples include life cycle events such as circumcision, marriage, and funeral rituals and mourning, ceremonial objects such as tefillin, and holiday customs such as malkot, which takes place on Yom Kippur. Prints also include depictions of weddings and funerals of prominent Jewish figures, such as the marriage of Leopold de Rothschild and Marie Perugia and the funeral of Rabbi Nathan Marcus Adler.
Depictions of unidentified Jewish individuals wearing examples of traditional dress from Europe, particularly Poland, with a small number of prints of Austria, Hungary, Lithuania, Russia, and Ukraine.
Depictions of biblical figures, prominent Jews and rabbis, and a small number of artwork reproductions of Jewish figures painted by Rembrant. Biblical figures include Aaron, Moses, and prophets. Prominent Jewish figures include a large number of rabbis, and a smaller number of Jewish scholars, philanthrophists, politicians, authors, and athletes. Examples include Adolphe Crémieux, Rabbi Dr. Abraham Geiger, Theodor Herzl, Rabbi Jacob Joseph, Daniel Mendoza, Rabbi Samuel Mohilever, Moses Montefiore, Jacob Rodrigues Pereira, and Rabbi Elijah ben Solomon (the Vilna Gaon).
Jewish cemeteries and tombs, such as the Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague, the Valley of Jehoshaphat, Rachel's Tomb, David's Tomb, and the Tomb of Absalom.
Prints of ceremonies and rituals pertaining to Jewish holidays. Examples include: the Yom Kippur ritual of kapparot, the Rosh Hashanah ritual of tashlikh, construction of a sukkah, and ceremonies of Passover, Simchat Torah, Tisha B'Av, and the Sabbath.
Illustrations and artwork reproductions of synagogues in Australia, Belgium, England, France, Sweden, and the United States.
Prints of the Western Wall, Jewish ghettos and neighborhoods in Austria, Germany, Israel, Italy, Poland, and Jewish hospitals. Examples of hospitals include the Israelitisches Krankenhaus (Israelite Hospital) in Hamburg and a proposed Jew's Hospital in Jerusalem, which was not built.
Portraits of prominent Jewish scholars, rabbis, philosophers, philanthropists, and businessmen. Examples include Marcus Elieser Bloch, Rabbi Lelio Cantoni, Abraham Goldsmid, Salomon Heine, Israel Jacobson, Flavius Josephus, Moses Mendelssohn, and Baruch Spinoza.
Prints of synagogues in England, France, Germany, and the United States, particularly California, Georgia, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Washington, D.C.
Prints of synagogues in Algeria, Crimea, the Czech Republic, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, and Turkey.
Prints of biblical scenes, including Abraham and the Binding of Isaac, Moses and the Burning Bush, Crossing the Red Sea, the Plagues of Egypt, the Great Flood, and depictions of each of the six days of creation.
Prints of synagogues in Austria, Hungary, Germany, and Switzerland. The majority feature synagogues in Germany.
PPrints of biblical scenes and figures. The majority depict Moses, often with the Ten Commandments. Others feature Abraham and the Binding of Isaac, Aaron, David, and Solomon. Also included are multiple scenes from the books of Exodus and Leviticus, and depictions of the vestments of Jewish high priests.
The majority of prints focus on ancient Jewish dress and the vestments of Jewish high priests, including Aaron. Also included are depictions of Joad, the Jewish high priest from Jean Racine's tragedy Athalie, and a small number of biblical scenes and liturgical objects from the Temple. Also present are ritual objects such as teffilin and illustrations featuring mezuzot, which outline their purpose and use.
German-language antisemitic caricatures and illustrations. The caricatures portray Jews as criminals, greedy money lenders, and the source of hyperinflation and economic crisis. Jews are compared to filthy, unintelligent livestock through the derogatory term "Viehjuden." Of note are prints featuring the cry "Hepp! Hepp!"-a rallying cry used during the 1819 Hep Hep Riots against German Jews-and illustrations mocking Jews who joined the Viennese Revolution of October 1848. Also of note are engravings that accompany the antisemitic play Unser Verkehr: Eine Posse in Einem Aufzug by Karl B. Sessa.
Antisemitic caricatures and illustrations portrayed Jews as filthy, money obsessed, corrupt, and dangerous to children. Of note are multiple illustrations and narratives from a picture story by Wilhelm Busch titled "Trauriges Resultat einer vernachlässigten Erziehung" printed in the weekly satire magazine Fliegende Blätter.
Prints of synagogues in the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Turkey, and the United States, particularly New York, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Virginia.
The majority of prints feature synagogues in the Netherlands, depicting scenes of holiday services and dedication ceremonies, as well as exterior views. Also included are a smaller number of prints of the Sinagoga del TrÁnsito in Toledo, Spain, ruins of the ancient synagogue in Kfar Bar'am, interiors of synagogues in Jerusalem, and one print of Bevis Marks synagogue in London.
Prints of the Western Wall in Jerusalem, buildings housing Jewish institutions, and Jewish cemeteries and tombs in the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Palestine, Turkey, and the United States. Institutions include hospitals and orphanages. Of note are a large number of images of the Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague.
Prints of Jewish institutions such as orphanages, hospitals, schools, museums, and the homes of prominent Jewish figures. Of note is the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York and Jew's House in Lincoln, England.
Prints of biblical locations such as Mount Horeb, the Tabernacle, the Temple in Jerusalem, and ancient Jerusalem. Later scenes include prints of the Western Wall, panoramas of Jerusalem, the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, a cartoon of the Mea Shearim neighborhood, and street scenes in the Czech Republic and Germany.
Prints of the Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague and the Arch of Titus in Italy.
Prints of Jewish neighborhoods, ghettos, and markets, the majority in Austria, Germany, and Palestine. Other countries include the Czech Republic, England, France, Greece, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, and Spain.
Prints of Jewish neighborhoods, ghettos, and markets, such as Petticoat Lane in London, England, Tétouan in Morocco, the Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem, and other cities in Israel, such as Safed and Meron.
Mostly photographic prints of synagogues in the Czech Republic, England, Germany Hungary, Israel, Spain, and the United States. Also miscellaneous images such as Jewish cemeteries in Germany, the Western Wall in Jerusalem, the Jewish Hospital in St. Louis (later the Barnes-Jewish Hospital), unidentified Jewish individuals in scenes from daily life, portraits of rabbis, and a photographic image of a rabbi and other religious leaders with troops in France during World War I.
Prints featuring synagogues in Canada, the Czech Republic, England, Germany, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, and the United States. Includes interior scenes depicting religious men at prayer, and several illustrations of ruins of ancient synagogues in Meron and Capernaum, Israel.
Prints depicting ruins of ancient synagogues in Kfar Bar'am and Meron, Israel, as well as prints featuring multiple synagogues representing different parts of the world.
Prints featuring the Tabernacle and Temple of Jerusalem and related imagery, such as menorot, altars, high priests, burning incense, the Sanhedrin, and the Holy of Holies. Also included are depictions of ancient Jerusalem and Jerusalem in the mid-19th century.
Prints featuring the Temple of Jerusalem, the Sanhedrin, and the Holy of Holies. Also included are depictions of ancient Jerusalem and Jerusalem in the mid-19th century.
Prints portraying explorations of Jerusalem conducted between 1864 and 1871 that resulted in discoveries of several cisterns under the Temple area, originally published in the London Illustrated News and Ballou's Pictorial Drawing Room Companion. Also included is a color print of the Mount of Olives
Prints portraying Jewish holidays and ceremonies, often with descriptive captions outlining the associated traditions. Holidays include Hanukkah, Passover, Sukkot, and Yom Kippur. Ceremonies include weddings, Sabbath services, and funerals and burial rituals. Of note is a reproduction depicting a 1914 Yom Kippur service held in a Catholic church in northern France during World War I.
Prints of unidentified Jewish individuals wearing examples of typical daily dress from various parts of Europe, particularly England, Germany, Gibraltar, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, and Poland. Also included are a small number of prints depicting immigrants in the United States. A significant number of illustrations portray the dress of common Jewish occupations, including that of merchants, rag traders, and peddlers.
Prints of unidentified Jewish individuals wearing examples of typical dress from across the Middle East and parts of Asia. Most prints are portraits that display examples of formal dress, daily clothing, and clothing of Jews in specific occupations. The majority of prints illustrate clothing worn in and around Turkey. Of note are multiple illustrations identified as part of Nicolas de Nicolay's Travels in Turkey.
Prints of unidentified Jewish individuals wearing examples of typical dress from across the Middle East and parts of Asia. Most prints are portraits that depict formal dress, everyday outfits, and the clothing of Jews in specific occupations. Locations represented include Palestine, Babylon (Iran), Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Uzbekistan, and unspecified locations in the Orient.
Prints of unidentified Jewish individuals wearing examples of typical daily dress from Algeria, Constantinople (Istanbul), Gibraltar, Persia (Iran), and the Orient. The majority of depict daily clothing, though multiple prints feature formal ceremonial dress, such as that worn during weddings, as well as sometimes elaborate female headdresses.
Depictions of rabbis, Jews as merchants, peddlers, barbers, and tradesmen, and Jews at study or in prayer. Scenes feature Torah study, education, work, and holiday celebrations. Most are reproductions of paintings by well-known artists such as Jozef Israëls, Isidor Kaufmann, Alphonse Lévy, and Rembrandt.
Prints of unidentified Jewish individuals wearing examples of typical dress. While the majority of prints are of posed individuals, a small portion depicts scenes from everyday life in settings such as markets, synagogues, and homes. Subject matter includes prayer and education of children. The majority of prints are reproductions of original works by artists such as Rembrandt, Ephraim Moses Lilien, Édouard Moyse, and Siegfried Laboschin.
Prints of unidentified Jewish individuals wearing examples of typical dress. Subject matter includes education of children, study, street scenes, and Jews exiled from various European countries. The majority of prints are reproductions of original works by artists such as Leopold Pilichowski, and Abel Pann.
Depictions of unidentified Jewish individuals and prints of scenes from daily life, such as prayer in synagogues, familial scenes, individuals at work, and business transactions. Of note are several scenes of immigration. The majority of prints are reproductions of original works by artists such as Abel Pann, Ephraim Moses Lilien, and Frederic Remington.
Scenes of daily life, mainly pertaining to religious study and practice. The majority of prints depict rabbis, Jewish men at prayer or discussing religious texts, and the education of children. In addition, there are several street scenes and a small number of prints featuring literary characters such as Rebecca in the The Maid of Judah (an Adaptation of Ivanhoe) and Isak Stern in Ottokar Frans Ebersberg's play Einer von unsere Leut ("One of Our Folks") performed at the Wallner Theater in Berlin, Germany.
Prints of Jewish characters from theater and literature, including plays such as the Merchant of Venice, characters from novels such as Oliver Twist and Meir Ezofowicz, literary figures such as the Wandering Jew.
Prints of Jewish characters from theater and literature, including illustrations of L'Ami Fritz, a novel by Erckmann-Chatrian, Trilby by George du Maurier, and scenes from The Jew, a comedy by playwright Richard Cumberland. Also included are depictions of biblical figures such as Esther, Rachel, and Rebecca, and miscellaneous prints portraying tributes to Israel, scenes of Jews at social events, and scenes of historical events.
Antisemitic caricatures illustrating various negative Jewish stereotypes, including portrayals of Jews as money obsessed, money lenders, untrustworthy businessmen, and peddlers selling stolen goods. Other antisemitic themes include societal pressure for Jews to convert to Christianity and Jews trying to intermarry with Christians to mix their "degenerate blood."
Antisemitic caricatures illustrating various negative Jewish stereotypes, including portrayals of Jews as money obsessed, money lenders, untrustworthy businessmen, peddlers selling stolen goods, and as people who exert secret influence over important figures. Also represents the perception of Jewish immigration as a "pauper Jewish invasion."
Antisemitic portraits and caricatures from the late 18th through the 19th century, as well as a small number from the 1920s. Many caricatures are from the American satirical magazines Puck and Judge. The caricatures illustrate antisemitic attitudes regarding Jewish businesses and perceived Jewish influence and greed. Themes include commentary on Jews' upward mobility, negative attitudes towards Jewish immigration, and portrayals of Jews literally trampling on biblical truths and Christian values. Of note are a caricature titled "Die Generalpumpe," which uses the Rothschild family to symbolize the influence of Jews and Jewish wealth, and a print reproduction of a painting titled Die Bekehrung der Juden in Rom (The Conversion of the Jews in Rome) by Hieronymus Hess, which shows Jews forced to attend a Christian sermon.
Selections of color caricatures with satirical titles published in the British magazine Vanity Fair. The caricatures include prominent Jewish individuals who lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including Alfred Dreyfus, Paul Julius Freiherr von Reuter, Sir Francis Goldsmid, Joseph Joachim, Mayer Amschel de Rothschild, Lionel Nathan de Rothschild, Ferdinand James Anselm Freiherr von Rothschild, and Israel Zangwill.
Prints with scenes of Jewish persecutions, massacres, and exiles dating from biblical times to World War I. Scenes include the burning and lamentation of Jerusalem as Jews are led into captivity in Babylon, massacres by the Romans, scenes of exile, scenes of Jewish suffering during World War I, images of the figure of the Wandering Jew, illustrations of Jews taking the Jewish Oath in European courts, and Jewish characters in novels and plays such as the Merchant of Venice. Of note are selected pages from the Nuremberg Chronicle, published in 1493, which relate the story of Simon of Trent and of the Rintfleisch movement, a series of massacres against Jews in the year 1298. In addition, this portfolio contains several pages of the Cosmographia by Sebastian Münster, which tells of repeated persecutions, massacres, and expulsions of the Jews of France starting in 1180. A significant amount of text in this portfolio is in either Latin or German.
Prints of scenes and depictions of Jewish characters in popular theater and literature. Examples include Shylock from Merchant of Venice, Rebecca and Isaac from Ivanhoe, and Fagan from Oliver Twist.
Images of Jewish individuals and communities under attack from biblical times to the 19th century. Examples of images include: the execution of ancient Jews by forces of Antiochus IV, symbolic representations of the captivity of Jews, images of sieges on Jerusalem, crucifixions of Jews, massacres, the sacking of synagogues, violent imagery of ransacked Jewish communities, and plundered Jewish businesses. Also of note are various images of the persecution of Jews in Russia, the expulsion of Jews from Eastern European countries, and excerpts from a series titled "The Jews After the Dispersion" published in Sunday Home Journal in 1885.
Portraits of prominent Jewish figures dating from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including philanthropists, artists, actors and actresses, politicians, and leaders of Jewish communities around the world. Examples include: Judah P. Benjamin, Sarah Bernhardt, Adolphe Crémieux, Benjamin Disraeli, Rachel Félix (known as Mademoiselle Rachel), Moses Montefiore, members of the Rothschild family, Jacques Offenbach, Moritz Daniel Oppenheim, and Joseph Schwarz.
Portraits of prominent Jewish figures dating from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the majority of which are rabbis. Examples include: Rabbi Hermann Adler, Rabbi Nathan Marcus Adler, Rabbi Benjamin Artom, Rabbi Akiva Eger, Rabbi Samuel Mohilever, and Rabbi Abraham de Sola. Also includes portraits of a small number of philanthropists, merchants, and leaders of Jewish communities.
Miscellaneous assortment of prints, posters, and records. Prints include images of historical events such as a charity fair held at the Hippodrome in New York for the benefit of Mount Sinai Hospital, the Grand Sanhedrin convened in France, and biblical scenes. Records include a confirmation certificate and multiple ketubot. Posters memorialize the Holocaust and promote the Yiddish language. Of note are pages from the Nuremberg Chronicle published in 1493 by Hartmann Schedel, depicting the repeated destructions of Jerusalem in ancient times.
Individual pages from books in German, Hebrew, Latin, and English, as well as records, print illustrations, and several sheets of stamps. Book pages date from the 17th and 18th centuries and cover topics such as antisemitism, daily and holiday prayers, arguments for the importance of the Hebrew language, and religious commentary. Of note are pages from Cosmographia by Sebastian MÜnster, originally published in 1544, blaming Jews for the Black Death in Strasbourg. Print illustrations include biblical imagery, ancient Israel, reproductions of papercuts by Yehudit Shadur, and monuments to prominent Jews. Of note is an illustration by Arthur Szyk featuring an excerpt from the 1264 Statute of Kalisz. Records include ketubot, share warrants, loan agreements, shiviti, regulations for Jewish cattle dealers, a Jewish National Fund land donation certificate, and Torath Chaim Yeshiva membership certificates. Of note is a clipping featuring an ordinance enacted by Franz Anton Graf on April 30, 1787, decreeing that all midwives will be fined or sentenced to prison for baptizing Jewish children without the consent of the parents. This portfolio also contains a small number of play advertisements from the mid-19th century. .
This portfolio contains several sheets of stamps featuring synagogues and famous Jewish figures.
The majority of the portfolio consists of maps and blank Yahrzeit calendars. Also included are a smaller number of reproductions of Yehudit Shadur's papercuts, biblical prints representing the flood, Moses, and Jewish high priests, and a souvenir print depicting Jewish institutions in Israel. Of note is an artist's proof by Bernard Brussel-Smith portraying a partial text of the Ten Commandments in Hebrew, and a print featuring a call for donations for a Jewish orphanage in Jerusalem with text in German, Hebrew, and Yiddish.
This collection of lithographs, engravings, and off-set reproductions offers views of Jewish religion, culture, and history through images that span 300 years. The images range from depictions of daily Jewish life to reflections of the social climate Jewish communities faced at various times throughout history. Jewish individuals, institutions, traditions, historical events, religion, and scenes of everyday life are represented in images of biblical figures and scenes, Israel and Palestine, synagogues, and traditional dress of Jews from different geographic locations, time periods, and denominations. The loose prints had original order and have been grouped by topic, arranged alphabetically. All folders include both black-and-white and color prints, with the exception of Engagement and Marriage Contracts (also known as ketubah/ketubot).
Two paper boards illustrated in color for antisemitic children's games known as "Het Nieuwe Joden-Spel" (The New Jews Game) and the "New and Fashionable Game of the Jew," London (1807). The "New and Fashionable Game of the Jew" features an illustration of a stereotypical Jewish banker with his moneybags in the center of the board. Both include playing instructions printed on the playing surface. Also includes a portrait of Johannes Pfefferkorn and antisemitic image from his work Libellus de Judaica confessione and and a page from the Nuremberg Chronicle, published in 1493, featuring Vincent Ferrer..
Sets of prints from illustrated Bibles and loose individual prints featuring either depictions of biblical figures or biblical scenes. The sets are held together and identified by publisher; the individual prints of biblical figures and scenes are organized separately. Biblical scenes have been further organized according to books of the Bible.
Prints featuring caricatures of Jews depicted as money changers, pawnbrokers, peddlers of old clothes, and symbols of avarice.
Color templates for formal engagement and marriage contracts in Hebrew. These blank templates are often decorative and elaborate in design.
Includes portraits of famous Jewish politicians, scholars, and Zionists. Examples include Judah P. Benjamin, Benjamin Disraeli, Albert Einstein, and Theodor Herzl.
Includes various representations of the figure of the Wandering Jew.
Prints described as "folk art" by Rosenthall, these depict of scenes of daily life, including women in the women's gallery of a synagogue, men having a dispute, men walking with a rabbi, a traveling musician, and a father and children gathered around a table. Of note are several reproductions of paintings by Saul Raskin
These prints feature Hebrew texts of prayers and blessings rather than imagery. Texts include shiviti, kame'a ve-shmira, the prayers of Tzidduk HaDin, and the Mourner's Kaddish, the blessing for putting on a tallit printed on fabric intended for a tallit pouch, and a large educational chart that encompasses both Jewish religious and secular educational goals (the Hebrew alphabet, Jewish prayers and blessings, and basic arithmetic and grammatical elements printed in Italian).
Prints depicting customs and traditions of Passover, Purim, Sukkot, Rosh Hashanah, Tisha B'Av, and Simchat Torah.
Historic events and scenes featuring Jewish individuals or institutions. Examples include the convening of the Grand Sanhedrin in France, a scene from the Russo-Turkish War depicting a field synagogue, and a scene of a Yom Kippur service (Kol Nidre) held in the field in 1914 for Jewish troops during World War I.
Scenes depicting events or themes of the persecution and exile of Jewish individuals or communities. Examples include a deputation of Jews in front of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, scenes of Jews forced to attend church services in Rome, and scenes of violence against Jews during World War I.
Prints portraying various locations, including cities, towns, and natural landmarks in Israel and Palestine, maps, buildings of Jewish institutions, such as schools, hospitals, and orphanages, Jewish cemeteries and tombs, Jewish ghettos and neighborhoods, and the Western Wall in Jerusalem.
Images of men reading or praying in the synagogue. Some feature liturgical objects such as tallitot or tefillin.
Black-and-white artwork reproductions of Sabbath scenes, including a painting by Isidor Kaufmann featuring men and children at prayer, and Moritz Oppenheim's painting Sabbath-Anfang (Ushering in the Sabbath).
Sheet music for musicals and song collections in English, German, and Yiddish. Of note are several Yiddish operettas. Many of the covers include Yiddish titles alongside an English translation.
Includes illustrations of synagogues located in the following countries: Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Ukraine, the United States (Maryland, New York, and South Carolina), and a small number of unidentified synagogues.
Prints of unidentified Jewish individuals wearing examples of traditional dress from Algeria, Hungry, Morocco, Palestine, Poland, Tunisia, Turkey, and Yemen. Also included are examples of the vestments of Jewish high priests.
Prints with reproductions of artwork by Samuel Hirszenberg, Maurycy Gottlieb, Jozef Israëls, and Sol Nodel depicting wedding and funeral scenes.
Elaborately decorated calendars featuring blanks to fill in to note anniversaries of death dates upon which to recite the Kaddish.
The poster series includes both loose items and sets. They range from decorative posters to advertisements for events, support for organizations and war efforts, and protests against antisemitism. Decorative posters feature prominent Jewish figures, synagogues, children's teaching aids, maps, cartoons and caricatures of 20th-century American and Israeli culture, and artwork reproductions. Event posters promote plays, museum exhibits, conferences, and memorial events. Some poster sets are intended as exhibits for display.
Color and black-and-white posters with no original order, which have been grouped by topical subject or function. The posters date from the second half of the 20th-century and document social commentary, recreational and cultural events, holidays, and prominent Jewish figures. Posters feature artistic images, advertising, or targeted informational content, as in the case of children's learning aids and maps.
Posters published in sets around a theme, organization, or event. Examples include posters featuring holdings of the Israel Museum, a B'nai B'rith Holocaust Exhibition, prominent Jewish women, and holiday images published by the Jewish National Fund. Of note are reproductions of a print series created by Irene Awret as a gift to a 1977 Egyptian delegation to Israel, commonly referred to as the Irene Awret Peace Series.
Images printed on fabric, including an illustration of the Austrian army with Jewish members represented and a textile featuring a planned Yom Kippur Service in Metz for Jewish soliders during the Franco-Prussian War by Hermann Junker, which never actually took place. The textile includes includes text in Hebrew and German.
3. Periodicals, 1768-1993
The periodicals series includes newspapers, magazines, and comic books, the majority of which are in English. Some publications were published by and for specific Jewish communities, but most are general interest magazines and daily newspapers that include articles providing information and opinion on Jewish religion and culture or report on events involving Jewish communities. Includes publications in English, Dutch, French, German, and Yiddish.
The small number of comic books in the collection features themes such as racial tensions between African American and Jewish communities, the Holocaust, World War II, and biblical stories. Of note is a satirical comic from a 1973 issue of National Lampoon titled "The Civil War between the Negroes and the Jews!"
A small number of single issues of magazines featuring articles about Jewish individuals or community events, or general interest stories on Jewish life, religion, or history. The majority of the magazines were published in the United States. Examples include Ken, a controversial political magazine, and Collier's, a magazine known for its focus on social reform. Of note is Le Cahier Jaune, a French antisemitic journal, and issues of The American Magazine and the Gentleman's Magazine that date from the late 18th century.
A varied selection of American newspapers in English, with a smaller number of foreign newspapers in German, Hebrew, and Yiddish. The majority of newspapers are not published by or for the Jewish community, but include articles featuring Jewish figures, events, or commentary on the Jewish community. Those that are published by and geared towards the Jewish community are Heritage Shalom News and The Lamp of Judaism. Newspapers are categorized according to language and alphabetized by title. A list of titles and issue dates is included at the folder level.
Contains both daily national newspapers and newspapers published by individual Jewish communities. National newspapers contain reports on Jewish social events, synagogue consecrations, Jewish neighborhoods and ghettos, religious ceremonies, missionary efforts to ameliorate Jews, Jewish criminals, antisemitism, and world events involving specific Jewish communities. Jewish newspapers document social events, religious events, fundraising, and community news.
4. Clippings, 1790-2003
The majority of this series consists of loose newspaper and magazine clippings divided into image and text categories and then separated by topical subject. The image series contains illustrations with little or no accompanying text, while the text series includes articles that might have small supplemental illustrations. Clippings with no original order have been arranged by topic, with the exceptions of two albums organized by Rosenthall into "Illustrated magazine articles" and "Non-illustrated articles from sundry journals."
These image clippings provide a sampling of portrayals of the Jewish people in publications dating from the late 19th to early 20th centuries. While a large portion of this series consists of antisemitic caricatures, clippings also include more positive illustrations of Jewish holiday scenes, society events, institutions, synagogues, and prominent figures. These have been organized alphabetically by topic.
Reproductions of paintings by Alphonse Lévy. Images include figures in traditional clothing participating in holiday preparations or daily activities such as prayer.
Caricatures are organized first by language, then by publication. Within each publication, clippings are organized by date. Caricatures originate from periodicals published in the United States, Germany, and France. The majority of caricatures depict Jews engaged in common professions such as pawnbrokers, and textile workers (also referred to as the "rag trade"). These illustrations suggest that Jews are cheap, money-oriented, and unfair businessmen who sell ill-fitted, low quality wares (mainly clothing). Examples include illustrations of businessmen discussing how to swindle customers, a father teaching his son ways to save money, and comical situations resulting from attempts to save money. German language caricatures include additional themes such as the trials of daily life among families and couples, challenges of Jews trying to assimilate into German culture, and depictions of Jews demanding tolerance and challenging those opposed to it.
Includes images of social events involving Jewish organizations or institutions, such as the Great Hebrew Charity Fair in New York City for the benefit of Jews' Hospital and Orphan Asylum, the Jews' Infant School Ball at Willis's Rooms in London, and the Hebrew Fair at Gilmore's Garden in New York City, a fundraiser for Mount Sinai Hospital.
Images of weddings and funerals of prominent figures, such as the marriage of Leopold de Rothschild to Marie Perugia in 1881 and the funeral of Eduard Lasker in 1884.
Includes images of Petticoat Lane, the Old Clothes Exchange, and Whitechapel Road in London, the ghetto in Vienna, the Jews' market in Warsaw, the Lower East Side in New York City, the Chicago ghetto, the Jewish market in St. Petersburg, Russia, and a street in Tiberias.
Images of traditional meals and synagogue services associated with specific Jewish holidays.
Includes images of Jewish immigration to the United States from various countries, most often Russia. Scenes depict landing at immigration processing centers in New York City, immigrants aboard ships, immigrant groups from various countries, and new immigrants in street scenes.
Illustrations of scenes in Israel and Palestine of historical and religious significance. Examples include the first windmill in Jerusalem, the Mount of Olives, pools of Hebron, the Western Wall, and Tomb of the Kings. Of particular note are photographs of Jewish colonies in Palestine in 1897.
Includes illustrations of Jewish orphan asylums, hospitals, soup kitchens, homes for the aged, theaters, businesses, and schools in Algeria, England, and the United States. Images show interior scenes and some building exteriors. Some images celebrate specific events, such as an institution's founding. Examples include a silk manufacturer in Algeria, the Jew's Hospital in Lower Norwood, London, and the Soup Kitchen for the Jewish Poor on Butler Street (now Brune Street), in Spitalfields, London.
Images of exiled Jews as portrayed in the Bible, as well as encampments of refugee Jews, such as those fleeing from Morocco after the the Hispano-Moroccan War in 1859. Other images of exile include exiled Russian Jews arriving in New York in 1882, the explusion of Jews from eastern Romania in the late 19th century, and 1933 photographs of police questioning Jews and the Nazi boycott of Jewish shops and offices in Berlin, Germany. Also includes a depiction of assaults on Jews in Kiev in the 1880s. The majority of images portray the persecution and exile of Russian Jews.
Images of prominent political and religious figures, most of whom were active in the second half of the 19th century. Examples include Rabbi Nathan Marcus Adler, Adolphe Crémieux, Benjamin Disraeli, Rabbi Moses Gaster, Moritz Lazarus, Moses Montefiore, Rabbi Abraham de Sola, and Rabbi Stephen S. Wise.
Images of synagogues in Algeria, the Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Ukraine, and the United States.
Images of unidentified Jewish individuals wearing examples of typical dress from of Morocco, Tunisia, and Yemen. Orthodox Jews of Jerusalem are also included.
The majority of text clippings are full articles, sometimes with an accompanying illustration, dating from the late 19th to the early 20th century. Articles mainly originate from popular, widely distributed weekly periodicals focused on current events and topics of general interest. Loose clippings have been grouped by topic.
Albums of articles organized by Rosenthall according to topical subject. Original order has been preserved. Topics include Jewish immigration to and settlement in America (sometimes portrayed negatively, as an "invasion"), Zionism and Jews living in Palestine, Jewish communities and Jewish life in the diaspora, Jewish life in countries such as China, England, Lithuania, Poland, and Russia, Jewish traditions and daily life, Jewish history, and observations of Jewish ghettos and neighborhoods.
Loose text clippings are organized according to topic, and then alphabetically by publication within each folder. Multiple clippings per publication are placed in chronological order. Unidentified publications are filed at the back of each folder. Major publications found throughout the English language clippings include Ballou's Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion, Harper's Weekly, Frank Leslie's Illustrated Weekly, The Illustrated London News, and Life, as well as a smaller portion from other publications. The majority of clippings date from the late 19th to early 20th century, with a small portion falling in the mid-20th century.
5. Stamps, 1903-2000, undated
Albums of Judaica stamps containing either individual stamps or stamps affixed to corresponding collectible covers. Many covers include a special cancellation mark matching the event, person, or location of the stamp and cover. Of note are a significant number of first day issue stamps and covers, in particular an album containing a variety of first day run covers from the Touro Synagogue stamp released in 1982. Prominent languages include English, German, and Hebrew.
Album with stamps on the following topics: Jewish institutions (orphanages, schools, hospitals), Jewish groups and charities (Jewish National Fund, United Charity Institutions of Jerusalem, Jewish War Veterans of the United States), events (philatelic exhibitions, fairs, the Second Maccabiah), holidays, Israel anniversary commemorations, images from Palestine and Israel, tombs, and ships. Of note are a large number of stamps issued by the Jewish National Fund.
The majority of items in this album are memorial stamps from countries including Canada, Denmark, France, Israel, the Marshall Islands, Slovakia, and Slovenia. Of note are stamps from Poland featuring memorials of the Warsaw ghetto uprising. A number of stamps refer to specific concentration camps. There are also several envelopes with stamps postmarked from Germany in early 1930s. The stamps are marked with the words "Deutsches Reich" and posted on envelopes bearing images of swastikas on the back.
Stamps labeled as "Judaica philatelica" by Rosenthall, include artwork reproductions, ceremonial objects, holiday stamps, synagogues, images of traditional costumes, stamps issued by the Dominican Republic commemorating refugees, Holocaust memorial stamps, prominent Jewish figures, biblical images, and a small number of stamps issued by Syria throughout the 1960s commemorating Palestine Day, Palestine Week, the Deir Yassin Massacre, and the Nakba. Of note are a small number of stamps from Operation Cornflakes, an anti-Nazi propaganda effort that planted fake mail to Germans including a death head stamp of Hitler.
This album contains Judaica postage stamps affixed to postcards of the same subject matter, many with matching images. Topics include synagogues, Judaica museum holdings, gravestones, ceremonial objects (such as ketubot and menorot), Holocaust memorial sculptures and images, and a small number featuring prominent Jewish figures and artwork reproductions.
This album contains postage stamps with matching covers on the following topics: maritime events, expositions, conferences (such as the Central Conference of American Rabbis), anniversaries of Israel, pro-Israel and Zionist imagery, post office openings, anniversaries of the deaths of notable Jewish figures, prominent Jewish figures, the Jewish National Fund, gates of the Old City in Jerusalem, artwork reproductions, Jewish associations and communities, and Judaica exhibits.
This album contains postages stamps and covers on the following topics: commemoration of the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine, opening of post offices in the Jewish state, the anniversary of the Jewish National Fund, B'nai B'rith, synagogues, philatelic expositions, Yom Ha'atzmaut (Independence Day), Hanukkah, sports, the city of Judenburg, Heichal Shlomo, Israeli universities and industry, and the National Jewish Theater in Poland.
This album contains stamps categorized by Rosenthall as "persons," featuring prominent Jewish individuals, including rabbis, Zionists, political and military leaders, academics, and Jewish community leaders. Examples of such figures include Maimonides, Rabbi Samuel Mohilever, Rabbi Ben-Zion Uziel, Rabbu Isaac Herzog, Moses Montefiore, Thedor Herzl, Chaim Weizmann, David Wolffsohn, Hermann Schapira, Ahad Ha'am, David Ben-Gurion, Levi Eshkol, Golda Meir, Haym Salomon, Sigmund Freud, and Joseph Trumpeldor. A small portion are issued by organizations including the Jewish National Fund, United Charity Institutions of Jerusalem, and the Matzo Fund.
This album contains stamps categorized by Rosenthall as "persons," including stamps affixed to covers that often match the stamp or are specifically issued as first day covers. The album also holds stamps featuring rabbis, Zionists, political and military leaders, academics, and prominent Jewish community leaders. Examples include Maimonides, Baruch Spinoza, Moses Mendelssohn, Martin Buber, Theodor Herzl, Zalman Shazar, Anne Frank, Pierre Masse, Waldemar Mordecai Haffkine, Albert Einstein, Henri Bergson, Franz Oppenheimer, Georges Mandel, and Sigmund Freud.
This album contains stamps categorized by Rosenthall as "persons," including stamps affixed to covers that often match the stamp or are specifically issued as first day covers. The album also holds stamps featuring rabbis, Zionists, political and military leaders, academics, and prominent Jewish community leaders. Examples include Maimonides, Baruch Spinoza, Moses Mendelssohn, Martin Buber, Theodor Herzl, Zalman Shazar, Anne Frank, Pierre Masse, Waldemar Mordecai Haffkine, Albert Einstein, Henri Bergson, Franz Oppenheimer, Georges Mandel, and Sigmund Freud.
This album contains stamps affixed to covers for synagogues in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Hungary, India, Israel, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Spain, Suriname, Sweden, Tunisia, and the United States. Of note are a small number of stamps and covers that commemorate synagogues 50 years after Kristallnacht.
This album contains stamps and covers specifically including caches, printed inscriptions on each cover pertaining to the synagogue. Often the cache provides background or general information on the synagogue, sometimes including its history. Features images of synagogues in Australia, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Sweden, and the United States.
This album contains individual stamps on the following topics: synagogues in the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Poland, Spain, and Ukraine, monuments, the Western Wall, tombs and gravestones, commemorations of historical events, artwork reproductions, images of Jerusalem, holidays, biblical scenes, kosher food advertisements, Jewish organizations (of note are stamps featuring the Reichsbund jüdischer Frontsoldaten), caricatures, anti-Nazism, and support for European Jews during World War II.
A specially issued Touro Synagogue Collector's Panel that includes a page providing historical background on the synagogue, a numbered guide to the six stamps on the opposing pages, and a biography of the artist who created the image of the Touro Synagogue that appears above the six stamps.
This album features first day issue stamps and covers for the Touro Synagogue stamp released in 1982. Also included are several Touro Synagogue postcards with the Touro synagogue stamp affixed. Both covers and postcards include a special First Day Issue cancellation mark. Covers feature different illustrations of the Touro Synagogue, sometimes including a quote or small excerpt on the synagogue's history. The album also contains a sheet of 50 Touro Synagogue stamps.
This album features first day issue stamps and covers for the Touro Synagogue stamp released in 1982. Also included are several Touro Synagogue postcards with the Touro synagogue stamp affixed. Both covers and postcards include a special First Day Issue cancellation mark. Covers feature different illustrations of the Touro Synagogue, sometimes including a quote or small excerpt on the synagogue's history. The album also contains a sheet of 50 Touro Synagogue stamps.
This album contains a small number of full sheets of stamps. Stamps feature the following subjects: Raoul Wallenberg, Albert Einstein, and Touro Synagogue. A World War II Remembered stamp set includes four sections, titled as follows: 1942: Into Battle, 1943: Turning the Tide, 1944: Road to Victory, and 1945: Victory at Last.
This album contains first day issue stamps and covers, all bearing a special first day issue cancellation mark. The majority of stamps and covers feature prominent Jewish figures, including Albert Einstein, George Gershwin, Samuel Gompers, Jerome Kern, Walter Lippmann, Adolph S. Ochs, Phoebe Pember, Joseph Pulitzer, Bernard Revel, Haym Salomon, and Raoul Wallenberg.
This album contains sheets of Jewish National Fund stamps. The majority of stamps commemorate prominent Jewish figures and rabbis; other topics include synagogues, buildings in Israel, cities and kibbutzim in Israel, the Western Wall, and Mandatory Palestine, among others.
This album contains covers with several different stamps on each, in contrast to the more traditional arrangement of a cover with a single stamp. Stamps and covers often are not as exactly matched as in other albums, though all have Judaica content. Topics include prominent Jewish figures, anniversaries and commemorations, and synagogues.
A small number of loose stamps, stamps affixed to postcards, and stamps affixed to covers not in an album. Includes stamps highlighting cities and locations in Israel, Israeli history, Jewish organizations and institutions, Israeli stamps, and Jewish ceremonial objects..
6. Objects, 1819-1993
Objects include non-paper materials such as medals, coins, textiles, and decorative plates. These materials are often collectible, decorative objects, though some of the textiles have specific functional uses.
Medals commemorating historic events and Jewish settlement in various countries, births of prominent Jewish individuals, the founding of Jewish institutions and synagogues, and anniversaries of the State of Israel. Also included are Hanukkah medals, Holocaust remembrance medals, collectible medal sets featuring prominent Jewish individuals, and sets of Israeli currency.
Includes coins and medals issued as sets around a theme. Coins include different denominations of Israeli currency from the 1950s and 1971. Medals include two partial sets sold by the Franklin Mint of America, both featuring prominent Jewish figures. Each medal includes a brief biographical note along with a simple portrait of the figure. One set is called Medallic History of the Jewish People and the other History of Jews in America. Both were issued in sets of bronze, silver, and gold. The sets included in the collection are silver.
Medals commemorating the births of prominent Jewish individuals, the founding of institutions and synagogues, historic events, remembrances, holidays, and the settlement of Jews in specific countries or cities. On the surface of most medals, brief text provides information on the subject of the medal, including founding dates, birth years, background on events, and the significance of Jewish figures.
This series contains several textiles used during Passover and others highlighting Judaica symbols and Bible verses. Included are afikoman bags, as well as two matzo covers featuring the Hebrew blessing over matzo, the Star of David, and images of Passover food. Of note is a textile with an image of Bnei Brak, Israel, and a wall tapestry including a border of the Hebrew text of Exodus 23:25-26.
Three decorative plates, one depicting Benjamin Disraeli and two displaying images of Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim in Charleston, South Carolina. The plate featuring Disraeli shows his seated portrait framed by a floral border and a crown, with an excerpt from Alfred Tennyson's poem "In Memoriam" at the bottom. The second plate commemorates Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim's bicentennial in 1950, with a short printed passage on the history of Charleston's Jewish community and the synagogue on the back. The third plate features a photographic image of Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim, with a typed note providing a short history of the synagogue taped to the back.
7. Rosh Hashanah greeting cards, circa 1900-1984
The majority of this series consists of three-dimensional pop-up New Year's greeting cards. The first subseries consists of the small pop-up cards and standard two-dimensional cards. The second subseries contains oversize cards.
Contains small to medium-sized fold-out pop-up cards and two-dimensional greeting cards. The smaller three-dimensional pop-up cards feature many of the same motifs as the larger versions: ships, floral decoration, birds, the blessing of children, meals featuring traditional New Year's sweet foods, life cycle events, religious rituals, and images of various modes of transportation. Also included are images of religious symbols, such as the Ten Commandments and Jewish high priests. Of note are a small number of mock checks issuing 365 days of health, wealth, and happiness for the New Year. Also included is a 1929 booklet containing an advance showing of sample Rosh Hashanah cards available for purchase, likely used as a salesman's sample.
Contains large, three-dimensional fold-out, pop-up Rosh Hashanah cards, elaborately decorated with detailed scenes and multiple pieces. The cards bear New Year's greetings in English and Hebrew and commonly feature the following motifs: ships, floral decoration, birds (most frequently doves and swans), the blessing of children, sweet foods traditionally eaten to celebrate the new year, life cycle events, religious rituals (blowing the shofar, reading the Torah, tashlikh, havdalah), scenes of Tel Aviv, and various modes of transportation, such as cars and trains. Some cards are pasted to sheets of black paper.
8. Records, forms, and correspondence, circa 1810-1986
Records documenting business transactions, education, religious services, organizational memberships, and major life cycle events compiled by Rosenthall into albums. Examples include: legal agreements regarding loans, marriage contracts, school records, membership records, business correspondence, and children's guides to synagogue services and holiday traditions.
Contains records documenting various aspects of everyday Jewish life, including life cycle events, education, business, religion, recreation, and current events. The majority date from the early 20th century. Examples include: formulas against the evil eye at times of birth and circumcision, Hebrew school documents granting admission to the next grade, programs for synagogue services and events, children's guides to holiday traditions and prayers, marriage contracts and family records, an obituary and funeral notice, a prozbul deed, a shtar iska, Jewish organization membership cards and donation forms, event invitations, programs, advertisements for holiday telegrams, letters acknowledging donations supporting the city of Jerusalem, and sheet music for a Zionist homeland song. Of note is a resolution adopted by the Anti-Communist Federation of America in 1939, urging Jews to fight their own war against Germany and involve no gentiles or gentile resources, and voicing support for America to take an isolationist approach and focus on issues at home.
Contains a wide variety of records and ephemera documenting aspects of Jewish life, including life cycle events, education, business, religion, recreation, and current events. Examples of records in this album include: an invitation to a confirmation with an accompanying list of gifts given by each attendant, letters from Jewish organizations seeking donations, an antisemitic short story, Hebrew song parodies, Jewish theater programs, synagogue seating charts and service schedules, a mikveh ticket, reproductions of pages from the Kennicott Bible, a small number of Sabbath and Zionist-themed prints, and a guide to Sukkot holiday rituals. Also included are a yahrzeit announcement from United Aged Home Moshav Sekenim in Jerusalem, a 1936 typewritten and signed letter from Chief Rabbi of Egypt Chaim Nahum, a meeting notice for the Workmen's Circle of Sioux City, Iowa, and a book page from the German edition of Cosmographia by Sebastian MÜnster, which tells the antisemitic legend of the Magdeburg Jew stuck in a privy. Of note is a handwritten and signed letter from Judah P. Benjamin concerning replying to a complaint regarding a field officer appointment.
A two-page certificate presented to Herrn Israel Friedlaender by the community of Posen on April 15, 1911, on the occasion of his seventieth birthday. The certificate is bound with a leather cover featuring the synagogue of Posen; the first page includes an illustration of the synagogue interior. The text is entirely in German.
9. Ephemera, 1895-1990, undated
Documents meant for short-term, temporary use, such as invitations, advertisements, event programs, informational pamphlets, donation solicitations, fundraising materials, and calendars. Ephemera document education, events, fundraising efforts of Jewish organizations, and collectible items.
This series contains ephemeral materials relating to various aspects of daily life. General categories are: collectible and educational card sets, children's teaching aids, donation solicitations and fundraising materials for Jewish charity organizations and institutions, event invitations, programs and souvenir items, and movie programs. Additional examples include advertisements, stickers, informational pamphlets, and a commemorative pin.
Approximately a dozen Judaica calendars dating from 1917 to 1974. Use of either Gregorian or Hebrew dates varies by calendar, but most include the year according to both dating systems, as well as all Jewish holidays. Some calendars feature weekly Torah portions; the majority are illustrated by photographs of Palestine and Israel. Calendars are arranged in chronological order.
Approximately a dozen Judaica calendars dating from 1917 to 1974. Use of either Gregorian or Hebrew dates varies by calendar, but most include the year according to both dating systems, as well as all Jewish holidays. Some calendars feature weekly Torah portions; the majority are illustrated by photographs of Palestine and Israel. Calendars are arranged in chronological order.
10. Stereoscopes, 1868-1906, undated
Twenty-one stereoscopes of synagogues in the United States and Jerusalem, an unidentified Jewish cemetery in Warsaw, traditional Tunisian dress, and locations in Jerusalem, including street scenes, the Western Wall, a model of the Temple of Jerusalem, David's Tomb, and the Tombs of the Kings.
Reproduction of the Temple of Jerusalem, street scenes in Jerusalem, and the Tomb of the Kings and David's Tomb.
Images of synagogues located in California, New York, Rhode Island, and Jerusalem.
Images of women praying at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.
A young girl in traditional Tunisian dress, and a synagogue located at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem.
11. Collecting files, 1951-2002
Materials documenting purchases of collection materials, including correspondence, invoices, and receipts. Some subseries contain a significant amount of correspondence dedicated to identifying dealers and other collectors of Judaica items. Correspondence and invoices are in English, German, and Hebrew, and originate from dealers, galleries, and shops across Europe, North America, and the Middle East. Materials are organized alphabetically by the dealer's last name. Individual items are organized within each folder in chronological order, with undated materials at the end.
Invoices and correspondence pertaining to purchases of books for the collection. Materials are organized alphabetically by the dealer's last name.
Correspondence with Judaica collectors in regard to trading materials, relevant events and resources, and general networking. Correspondence includes requests for information, expressed interest in viewing the collection, recent acquisitions of potential interest, and introductions from collectors with similar interests. Of note is a separate folder in which Rosenthall filed correspondence with collector Alfred Rubens, as well as newspaper clippings featuring Rubens.
Invoices for coins and medals purchased, and correspondence regarding the availability and pricing of desired items, as well as shipping and payments.
Invoices and correspondence related to periodicals Rosenthall purchased for Judaica content. Some correspondence offers a brief summary of the relevant content pertaining to Jewish figures, events, or traditions.
Invoices and correspondence documenting Rosenthall's search for Judaica postcards. Much of the correspondence involves offers of Judaica postcards for review and responses to inquiries for Judaica postcards. Also includes a folder of want ads placed by Rosenthall and postcard club membership cards.
Correspondence with individual dealers, galleries, and organizations inquiring about Judaica prints, reviewing prices and available prints, and confirming purchases. Includes responses to ads Rosenthall placed seeking Judaica materials for purchase or trade. These files also include purchase invoices.
Invoices and correspondence regarding the purchase of Judaica stamps. Correspondence contains inquiries regarding Judaica stamps and requests for specific stamps. Also includes invoices, correspondence, newspaper clippings, and notes regarding the 1982 Touro Synagogue stamp and first day cover.
This subseries consists of invoices that do not indicate the format of the item sold but never the less provide information on the dealers, galleries, and individuals from which Rosenthall purchased collection items, as well as prices for various objects.
12. Exhibits and publications, 1964-1995
This series documents publications and exhibits featuring items from Rosenthall's collection. Records include correspondence, loan agreements, photocopies of materials, payments for use, publicity materials, and copies of publications and exhibit materials featuring collection items.
13. Subject files, 1856-2002, undated
Subject files arranged according to topic by Rosenthall, kept in original order. Subject files include both images and textual reference materials gathered on biblical topics, synagogues in the United States and abroad, and Jewish communities around world. Files include clippings collected from magazines and newspapers, original photographs, pamphlets, and booklets consisting of both text and images. Of note are a significant number of synagogue photographs from the late 19th century and the mid to late 1950s.
An extensive collection of biblical images removed from unidentified published works. These often include a basic caption and are organized alphabetically by topical subject.
Text and image clippings from published sources, as well as original photographs of synagogues from around the world. Synagogues are organized by location.
Materials documenting the history, significant events, and images of synagogues located in the United State, organized by state.
Materials documenting the history, significant events, and images of synagogues located in around the world, organized by country.
China, Japan, Manchuria, Malaysia, Burma, Philippines, Singapore, India, Thailand
Panama, Paraguay, Venezuela, Colombia, Suriname, Guatemala, Chile, Uruguay
Textual clippings on various topics pertaining to synagogue architecture and function, such as decorative aspects, traditions and ritual, and histories of synagogues.
See also: synagogues by country, art, and interior decoration
Articles removed from magazines and local newspapers reporting on current events involving Jewish communities in specific countries. These articles document waning Jewish populations, attempts to revive Jewish communities, historic background on Jews in certain areas, customs and daily life of Jewish communities around the world, and noteworthy occurrences in Jewish communities.
13. Miscellaneous Formats, 1809-1933, undated
Judaica items that do not fit within the major formats contained in the collection. Examples include photographs, a copper engraving plate, travel prayer books, an album cover, a painting fragment, and selection of book fragments such as selections from The Microcosm of London by Rudolph Ackermann, 200 Bilder-Spässe by Hans Bohrloch, illustrations by Michał Elwiro Andriolli from Meir Ezofowicz by Eliza Orzeszkowa, and illustrations by Jacob Epstein from The Spirit of the Ghetto by Hutchins Hapgood.
An elaborately decorated bound manuscript created on the occasion of the dedication of the Versailles Synagogue on September 22, 1886. In between intricately carved wood covers are a hand painted dedication page, photographs of the interior and exterior of the synagogue in Versailles, and text of speeches given at the synagogue's inauguration.
Administrative Information
Access Restrictions
This collection is open for research.
Copyright Notice
The nature of the College of Charleston's archival holdings means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. Special Collections claims only physical ownership of most archival materials.
The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. copyright law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], William A. Rosenthall Judaica collection, College of Charleston Libraries, Charleston, SC, USA.
Acquisitions Information
Materials were donated in 2007 by Irene O. Rosenthall.
Processing Information
Processed by Amy Lazarus, August 2014.
Encoded by Amy Lazarus, September 2014.
Reviewed and uploaded by Joshua Minor, March 2015.
Box 92 added in Miscellaneous Formats series, April 2015
Funding from the Council on Library and Information Resources supported the processing of this collection and encoding of the finding aid.
