Sunday, December 04, 2011

Glikl Hamel's memoir

This is nice. You can download the original manuscript by Glueckel of Hameln, one of the most famous Jewish memoirs of all time - if not the most famous (download or read it here).

Here is the first page:



Here's the page as it appears in David Kaufmann's original publication of this manuscript from 1896 (זכרונות מרת גליקל האמיל משנת תז עד תעט):

8 comments:

  1. For those who didn't exactly polish up their Old Yiddish, there are later publications of this book with translations in Hebrew and English.

    Hebrew = http://simania.co.il/bookdetails.php?item_id=552775

    English = http://www.amazon.com/Memoirs-Gluckel-Hameln/dp/0805205721#_

    (Sorry, but I couldn't locate any sites with the option to read on-line, perhaps the blogmaster can)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Glueckel was a many-times great aunt of mine on my mother's side. There is a connection to Rav Hirsch somehow, though it's been years since I saw the written pedigree. Good to know that her memoirs have joined the online canon.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Cousin Dan,

    there are several connexions between Glikl and Rav Hirsch, but I don't know about any direct one. Probably one of those "indirect ancestors" journalists love. The closest I have is that he was a descendant of Glikl's sister Elkl, ie Glikl was his 5th great-aunt:

    Elkl Pinkerle
    |
    Frieda (Fradche, Fradl) Stadthagen
    |
    Hendl Traub
    |
    Gella Gans
    |
    Joseph Hertz-Hildesheim
    |
    Gella Hertz-Hildesheim
    |
    RSRH

    ReplyDelete
  4. Forgot the two things I originally wanted to say:

    - Isn't that just a wonderful handwriting style?

    - Prof Turniansy's edition doesn't only contain a translation into Ivrit but also a new edition of the original.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yes, it is a nice, classically Ashkenazic handwriting.

    I should also point out that Glikl's grandson was Marcus Moses who wrote "The principal motives & circumstances that induced Moses Marcus to leave the Jewish, and embrace the Christian Faith."

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks, Cousin Lipman, for the yichus. The name Gella was passed down in my family; it was my great-grandmother's "Hebrew" name (she was SRH's granddaughter), and it is my mother's.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Ah, so we're 7th cousins once removed (7C1R). Also 10th cousins thrice removed (and probably some more, given the close connexions between certain families in that areas), basically twins.

    Is your mother's Jewish name a coincidence?

    ReplyDelete
  8. I suppose this is known, but she was also the ancestress of Berth Pappenheim (i.e. "Anna O."), who translated the work into German.

    ReplyDelete

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