Joseph Jacobs | |
|---|---|
 Photograph of Jacobs taken in 1900 | |
| Born | (1854-08-29)29 August 1854 |
| Died | 30 January 1916(1916-01-30) (aged 61) Yonkers, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | |
| Nationality | British citizen |
| Alma mater | University of Sydney St John's College, Cambridge University of Berlin |
| Subject | Indo-European fairy tales; Jewish history |
Joseph Jacobs (29 August 1854 – 30 January 1916) was an Australian-born folklorist, literary critic and historian who became a notable collector and publisher ofEnglish folklore.
Born inSydney to a Jewish family, his work went on to popularise some of the world's best known versions of English fairy tales including "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 his English fairy tale collectionsEnglish Fairy Tales in 1890 andMore English Fairy Tales in 1893.[a] He published European, Jewish, Celtic, and Indian fairy tales, which made him one of the most popular English-language fairy tale writers. Jacobs was also an editor for journals and books on the subject offolklore which included editing theFables of Bidpai and theFables of Aesop, as well as articles on the migration of Jewish folklore. He also edited editions ofThe Thousand and One Nights. He went on to joinThe Folklore Society in England and became an editor of the society journalFolklore.[1] Joseph Jacobs also contributed toThe Jewish Encyclopedia.
During his lifetime, Jacobs came to be regarded as one of the foremost experts on English folklore.
Jacobs was born in Sydney, New South Wales, on 29 August 1854.[2]He was the sixth surviving son of John Jacobs, apublican who had emigrated from London in around 1837, and his wife Sarah,née Myers.[3] Jacobs was educated atSydney Grammar School and at theUniversity of Sydney, to which he won a scholarship for classics, mathematics and chemistry. He did not complete his studies in Sydney, but left for Britain at the age of 18.[4]
He then studied atSt John's College, Cambridge, where he gained a BA in 1876.[5] At university he demonstrated a particular interest in mathematics, philosophy, literature, history, and anthropology.[5] While he was in Britain Jacobs became aware of widespreadanti-Semitism; to counter this he wrote an essay, "Mordecai", which was published inMacmillan's Magazine in June 1877[6] Later in 1877 he moved toBerlin to study Jewish literature and bibliography underMoritz Steinschneider, and Jewish philosophy and ethnology underMoritz Lazarus.[7]
Jacobs then returned to Britain and studied anthropology underFrancis Galton.[7] At this point he began to further develop his interest in folklore.[7] From 1878 to 1884 he served as secretary of theSociety of Hebrew Literature.[7] He was concerned by the anti-Semitic pogroms in theRussian Empire and in January 1882 wrote letters on the subject toThe Times of London. This helped to raise public attention to the issue, resulting in the formation of theMansion House Fund and Committee, of which he was secretary from 1882 to 1900.[7] He was the honorary secretary of the literature and art committee of theAnglo-Jewish Historical Exhibition held in theRoyal Albert Hall in London in 1887, and withLucien Wolf he compiled the exhibition catalogue.[7]
In 1888 Jacobs visited Spain to examine old Jewish manuscripts there. The Royal Academy of History at Madrid elected him a corresponding member.[8]
In 1891 he returned to the theme of Russian anti-Semitism in a short book,The Persecution of the Jews in Russia, which was published first in London and then in the United States by theJewish Publication Society of America.[8]In 1896 Jacobs began publication of the annualJewish Year Book, continuing the series until 1899, after which it was continued by others.[8] He was also President of theJewish Historical Society.[9]
In 1896 Jacobs visited the United States to deliver lectures on "The Philosophy of Jewish History" atGratz College in Philadelphia, as well as to groups of theCouncil of Jewish Women in New York, Philadelphia and Chicago.[10]In 1900 he was invited to serve as revising editor for theJewish Encyclopedia, which included entries from 600 contributors.[11] He moved to the United States to take on this task.[11] He also involved himself in theAmerican Jewish Historical Society,[11] became a working member of theJewish Publication Society's publication committee.[12] and taught at theJewish Theological Seminary of America.[9]
Jacobs married Georgina Horne, and fathered two sons and a daughter. In 1900, when he became revising editor of theJewish Encyclopedia, based in New York, he settled permanently in the United States.[citation needed]
He died on 30 January 1916 at his home inYonkers, New York, aged 62.[5][3]
Jacobs was a student of anthropology at the Statistical Laboratory at University College London in the 1880s underFrancis Galton. HisStudies in Jewish Statistics: Social, Vital and Anthropometric (1891) made his reputation as the first proponent of what was then called "Jewish race science".[13]
In 1908 he was appointed a member of the board of seven editors that made a new English translation of the Bible for theJewish Publication Society of America.[14]
In 1913 he resigned his positions at the seminary to become editor of theAmerican Hebrew.
In 1920 Book I of hisJewish Contributions to Civilization, which was practically finished at the time of his death, was published in Philadelphia.
In addition to the books already mentioned, Jacobs editedThe Fables of Aesop as First Printed byCaxton (1889),Painter's Palace of Pleasure (1890),Baltaser Gracian's Art of Worldly Wisdom (1892),Howell's Letters (1892),Barlaam and Josaphat (1896),The Thousand and One Nights (6 vols, 1896), and others. Jacobs was also a contributor to theEncyclopædia Britannica, and toJames Hastings'sEncyclopædia of Religion and Ethics.
Jacobs edited the journalFolklore from 1899 to 1900 and from 1890 to 1916 he edited multiple collections of fairy tales that were published with illustrations byJohn Dickson Batten:English Fairy Tales,Celtic Fairy Tales,Indian Fairy Tales,More English Fairy Tales,More Celtic Fairy Tales (all 1890 to 1895) andEuropa's Fairy Book (also issued asEuropean Folk and Fairy Tales) in 1916.[15] He was inspired in this by theBrothers Grimm and theromantic nationalism common in folklorists of his age; he wished English children to have access to English fairy tales, whereas they were chiefly reading French and German tales;[16] in his own words, "WhatPerrault began, the Grimms completed."
Although he collected many tales under the name offairy tales, many of them are unusual sorts of tales.Binnorie (inEnglish Fairy Tales)[17] andTamlane (inMore English Fairy Tales)[18] are prose versions ofballads, The Old Woman and Her Pig (inEnglish Fairy Tales) is anursery rhyme,Henny Penny (inEnglish Fairy Tales) is afable, andThe Buried Moon (inMore English Fairy Tales) hasmythic overtones to an extent unusual in fairy tales. According to his own analysis ofEnglish Fairy Tales, "Of the eighty-seven tales contained in my two volumes, thirty-eight areMärchen proper, tensagas orlegends, nineteendrolls, fourcumulative stories, sixbeast tales, and tennonsense stories."[19]
During his lifetime Jacobs came to be regarded as "one of the leading English authorities" on folklore,[20] and "the leading authority on fairy tales and the migration of fables".[9] Writing in 1954, O. Somech Philips stated that, while Jacobs accomplished many things in his life, it was as a folklorist that "people remember him best".[21]
Writing Jacobs's obituary forThe American Jewish Year Book, Mayer Sulzberger characterised him as "one of the important figures in the Jewry of our age", adding that he was "in himself a type of the humanity and universality of the Jewish people".[5] Sulzberger praised Jacobs's literary style, commenting that he "wrote with ease and grace", and "might have attained a high place in the illustrious roll of honor of Britain's literary worthies" if he had pursued a career in literature.[22] Sulzberger described him as having "a noble nature, incapable of envy", as well an "insatiable thirst for knowledge"; he was "always ready to welcome a fellow-inquirer."[23]
After his death his stories were republished, including in the 1918 bookEnglish fairy tales byFlora Annie Steel with illustrations fromArthur Rackham.[24][25][26]
Sulzberger included a list of his books in his obituary:[27]
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