BERLIN, TZVI HIRSCH (HART LYON, LEVIN), (Chief Rabbi of England)
AUCTION 31 |
Tuesday, December 13th,
2005 at 1:00
Fine Judaica: Hebrew and Other Printed Books
Lot 43
(ANGLO-JUDAICA)
BERLIN, TZVI HIRSCH (HART LYON, LEVIN), (Chief Rabbi of England)
London: Rob. Withy ca. 1760
Est: $2,000 - $3,000
PRICE REALIZED $3,750
Tzvi Hirsch Berlin (1731-1800), a most eclectic and erudite scholar was known in English circles as Hart Lyon, as his name “Tzvi Hirsch” was translated as a “hart,” a male deer. The second name, Lyon, refers to the fact that the rabbis’ father was Aryeh Leib, which was translated as “lion. He was in fact the son-in-law of the Chacham Tzvi - as stated in Hebrew in the lower register of this portrait. In 1773, Tzvi Hirsch was appointed Rabbi of Berlin, thus resulting in a new surname: Berlin. His other family name, Levin, is probably a corruption of Lyon