From Australia’s Jewish Past: Joseph Jacobs – folklorist, translator, literary critic, social scientist, historian and writer
Joseph, the sixth surviving son of John and Sarah Jacobs, was born on 29 August 1854 in Sydney. His father was a publican who had emigrated from London in 1837.
Joseph Jacobs
During his lifetime, Joseph came to be regarded as one of the foremost experts on English folklore as well as one of the leading authorities on fairy tales and the migration of fables.
He was educated at Sydney Grammar School and at the University of Sydney where he won a scholarship for classics, mathematics and chemistry. He left for England at the age of 18 and completed his education at St John’s College Cambridge, where he also studied philosophy, literature, history and anthropology. Whilst in England, he became aware of the increase in antisemitism, and, to counter this, he wrote an essay entitled “Mordecai’’, which was published in 1877 in an edition of Macmillan’s Magazine. He moved to Berlin in 1877 to study Jewish literature and bibliography under Moritz Steinschneider and Jewish philosophy and ethnology under Moritz Lazarus.
Once back in England, he further pursued his interest in anthropology and developed an interest in folklore. From 1878 to 1884, he served as secretary of the Society of Hebrew Literature. Becoming more concerned at the wide spread of anti-semitic pogroms in the Russian Empire , Joseph wrote a letter in January 1882 on the subject to the London Times. This helped raise public attention to the issue, resulting in the formation of the Mansion House Fund and Committee, of which he was secretary from 1882 to 1900. He was the honorary secretary of the Literature and Art Committee of the Anglo-Jewish Historical Exhibition—held in London’s Royal Albert Hall in 1887 and together with Lucien Wolf compiled the exhibit’s catalogue. Joseph became involved with the Jewish Historical Society of England and became their President.
In 1888, Joseph visited Spain to examine old Jewish manuscripts and whilst there, the Royal Academy of History in Madrid elected him as a corresponding member. In 1891, he published a book on the theme of Russian anti-semitism – “The Persecution of the Jews in Russia”, which was first published in London and republished in the United States by the Jewish Publication Society of America. In 1896, he began publishing the Annual Jewish Year Book, continuing the series until 1899.
In 1896, he was invited to the US to deliver lectures on “The Philosophy of Jewish History” at the Gratz College in Philadelphia and the Council of Jewish Women in New York, Philadelphia and Chicago. In 1900, he was invited to serve as revising editor for the Jewish Encyclopedia, which included entries from 600 contributors. In order to take on this role, he moved to the US, and as always, time did not stand still for him, and he became involved in the American Jewish Historical Society and a working member of the Publication Committee of the Jewish Publication Society.
How interesting it was to learn, that besides being so involved in Anglo-Jewish history and anti-semitic pogroms, Joseph went on to popularise some of the world’s best-known versions of English fairy tales. Some of these are “Jack and the Beanstalk“, “Goldilocks and the three bears“, “The Three Little Pigs“, “Jack the Giant Killer” and “The History of Tom Thumb“. He published a collection of English Fairy Tales in 1890 and More English Fairy Tales in 1893. He next published fairy tales collected from Europe together with Jewish, Celtic and Indian tales, which made him one of the most popular writers of fairy tales for the English language.
He was also an editor for journals and books on the subject of folklore, which included editing the Fables of Bidpai and those of Aesop, plus articles on the migration of Jewish folklore. He also edited editions of ‘’The Thousand and One Nights’’ and went on to join The Folklore Society in England and became an editor of the Folklore Society Journal. His talents were never-ending and included contributions to The Jewish Encyclopedia.
Joseph died in his home in Yonkers, New York on 30 January 1916 aged 62. In his obituary written for The American Jewish Year Book, he was characterised as one of the important figures in the Jewry of our age, and he was in himself a type of the humanity and universality of the Jewish people. The author praised his literary style, writing with ease and grace and had he pursued a career in literature, he might have attained a high place in the illustrious roll of honour of Britain’s literature. He had an insatiable thirst for knowledge and was always ready to welcome a fellow inquirer. He was also described in England: The Other Within – Analysing the English Collections at the Pitt Rivers Museum from a transcription of the Jewish Historical Society of England – as a man of intellect and humour, of insight and scholarliness. A humanist who was always ‘bubbling over with fun’ he could be scientific ‘yet as simple and fresh as a child’. He had perhaps too many interests, and concentration on one theme, one topic or one discipline, might have produced a weightier, more intellectually reputed and acknowledged scholar and elicited greater respect for his Wissenschaft des Judentum – Science of Judaism. But it would have denied many the joy of his folklore, the benefit of his historical and scientific research and analysis, the urgency of his concerns, and the enthusiasm which he gave to every project.
He was survived by his wife Georgina and two sons, and a daughter. Whilst Australia was where he started his life, he did not return to his homeland for any time during his lifetime.
The AJHS acknowledges the following references in the preparation of this story:-
The American Jewish Year Book – September 1915 to September 1916; Jewish Virtual Library; Encyclopaedia Britannica; Australian Dictionary of Biography; Fairtales.com/authors; Wikipedia; Post Peer Review Publishers PDF (Manchester UK)
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