Autobiography of Godfrey Zimmerman,

£800 · Offered by Shapero Rare Books

Scarce autobiography, with the list of subscribers. From the library of Alfred Rubens. Godfrey Zimmerman (1788-1866) born into a poor family of a Jewish-German butcher. Aged 13 he sets out on a journey which takes him from butcher's assistant to becoming "commissaire of the butcher department" for Napoleon's army. In that role he follows Napoleon in his conquests around Europe, providing 'behind the scenes' view of the army and its battles, until being taken prisoner by Cossacks, at which point his life takes an even more unexpected turn. Alfred Rubens (1903–1998) was a historian and an avid collector of Jewish-interest prints. A London surveyor and estate agent by profession, at an early stage he began to collect engravings of Jewish interest with his work Anglo-Jewish Portraits (1935) being based on his collections. He later published a similar work of wider scope, A Jewish Iconography (1954; rev. ed. 1981) containing engravings of scenes of Jewish life and continental engraved portraits. This was followed by his History of Jewish Costume (1967). Rubens served as the chairman of the London Jewish Museum (1958-1983) and was president of the Jewish Historical Society of England (1956–58). First edition, 8vo; publisher's red cloth boards, gilt, spine edges and corners rubbed, edges gilt; illuminated frontispiece, previous owner's bookplate to front pastedown, xvi, 126 pp.

• Binding: Hardcover

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