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Sep 21, 2023, 1:20 PM

A Tale of Two Machzors, Or Three

In an earlier piece, posted during the Autumn Yom Tov season last year, we discussed the 1785 edition of the Machzor, first produced in London in 1770/1 by the three printers Isaac, Moses and Jacob. In particular, we pondered...

Sep 7, 2023, 8:45 PM

‘All Is Inscribed in a Book’: Selichos Books of the UK

As the summer comes to an end, Selichos and the sound of the Shofar heralds the upcoming Yomim Naroyim, the High Holy Days, and many of us will reach for a familiar volume of these Selichos prayers, bound in...

Aug 8, 2023, 9:25 PM

Abraham Abraham of Liverpool: His Business and Family Continued

In my last blog, we discussed the scholarly instrument maker Abraham Abraham of Liverpool, who had claimed on his business card that the Duke of Wellington no less was his patron. Such an assertion, however, seems a bit odd....

Jul 24, 2023, 3:12 PM

A Abraham: Producing Both Scientific Instruments and Jewish Books

Many years ago, I bought a small book entitled “Moral and Religious Tales for the Young of the Hebrew Faith” (illustrated). It is a translation by A. Abraham from a French work. The preface is dated Liverpool, May 1846. Of...

Jul 12, 2023, 3:08 PM

From shmattes to medical instruments: Jewish businesses in the 19th century

The letter signed by Woolf Aronsberg, alongside his picture

The most common image of the Jew in 18th and 19th-century England, like those from the pages of Israel Zangwill’s novels, is that of an itinerant peddler, cloaked in a black gabardine, selling old clothes and knickknacks from door...

May 23, 2023, 12:47 PM

A Collection for Shavuot: Sermons, Not Artefacts

Unlike the other Chagim of Pesach and Succot, Shavuot lacks obvious symbols and practices, such as the lulav and etrog or the Seder plate and matzah. What then would I have in my collection relevant for this upcoming holiday? The...

May 17, 2023, 1:47 PM

Counting the Omer

Not forgetting a day with the help of a forgotten calendar As we count the 49 days of the Omer, marking the period between Pesach and Shavuot, I am sure I am not alone in my worry about missing a...

Apr 27, 2023, 3:51 PM

Celebrating the Crown: Anglo-Jewry’s Past Royal Commemorations

The upcoming coronation of King Charles lll has encouraged me to delve into my collection and examine the fascinating Anglo-Jewish pamphlets and publications, some centuries old, produced to celebrate royal events in the past. In a past post, I described...

Apr 4, 2023, 3:21 PM

My Haggadah Collection: Forever Incomplete?

Every collector enjoys the thrill of the chase and the pleasure of finally completing a specific collection. Striving to get a complete collection of a certain type of book is rendered much easier when there is an available bibliography...

Mar 28, 2023, 3:49 PM

The Jacobs Affair: A Theological Storm from Within

A photograph of one conference of Orthodox Ministers together with Chief Rabbi Brodie (fifth left), with Louis Jacobs in attendance (standing fourth right).

In the Nineteenth Century, as I wrote in my last piece, both the Adler Chief Rabbis faced challenges from within the United Synagogue, as well as from movements both to the right and to the left. The most serious...

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About Me

Professor David Latchman, CBE, is a leading UK academic, author, and philanthropist, and currently holds the position of Vice-Chancellor of Birkbeck University of London, having led the university since 2003. Latchman holds First-class Honours in Natural Sciences, a MA, and a PhD, and has completed a three-year post-doctoral fellowship at Imperial College London. He also has a DSc (higher doctorate) from the University of London.