Religion, 1826, Jewish Conversion | Omstandig verhaal betreffende den overgang van drie Israëlitische huisgezinnen te Zalt-Bommel woonachtig tot den Hervormden Christelijken Godsdienst : in brieven Omstandig verhaal betreffende den overgang van drie Israëlitische huisgezinnen, te Zalt-Bommel woonachtig, tot den Hervormden Christelijken Godsdienst; in brieven. (...) Te Zalt-Bommel, bij Johannes Noman, 1826, 86+(1)pp.

Loup, R. M.

Religion, 1826, Jewish Conversion | Omstandig verhaal betreffende den overgang van drie Israëlitische huisgezinnen te Zalt-Bommel woonachtig tot den Hervormden Christelijken Godsdienst : in brieven Omstandig verhaal betreffende den overgang van drie Israëlitische huisgezinnen, te Zalt-Bommel woonachtig, tot den Hervormden Christelijken Godsdienst; in brieven. (…) Te Zalt-Bommel, bij Johannes Noman, 1826, 86+(1)pp.

Name: Religion, 1826, Jewish Conversion | Omstandig verhaal betreffende den overgang van drie Israëlitische huisgezinnen te Zalt-Bommel woonachtig tot den Hervormden Christelijken Godsdienst : in brieven Omstandig verhaal betreffende den overgang van drie Israëlitische huisgezinnen, te Zalt-Bommel woonachtig, tot den Hervormden Christelijken Godsdienst; in brieven. (...) Te Zalt-Bommel, bij Johannes Noman, 1826, 86+(1)pp.
SKU: 67767
Availability: InStock

A story about three Jewish families converting to Christianity in Zaltbommel. Formerly in the collection of genealogists E.J.D. de Munck and G. Roodenburg (stamps). Contains an obituary of Cornelia Macalester Loup, widow of the author.

Originally this publication caused little sensation when it was first published, and it will not have been distributed in large numbers. The booklet describes how several Jewish inhabitants of Zaltbommel converted to the Dutch Church. These were the families of B. Philips, L. Philips and Van Leeuwen: a total of eleven adults and ten children. Since too much public interest was expected when the baptism took place in the church, it was decided to perform the baptismal ceremony in the homes of the families concerned, with only the members of the Church Council present. Loup described the events in a series of eleven letters to a pastor friend. At the request of his church members and the converts themselves he decided to publish these letters in print. Stories about Jewish conversion are not a marginal phenomenon in the nineteenth century: some stories were distributed in huge print runs. They appeared in book form, in newspapers and magazines, school books, as Christmas gifts or as theatrical plays.

Once again, the story would never have received any notoriety if the baptism had not involved the ancestors of he well-known Philips family. One of the children baptized in 1826, Lion Philips (1794-1866), was the grandfather of Dr. G.L.F. Philips and of Anton Frederik Philips, the great men of the N.V. Philips’ Gloeilampenfabriek.

Coincidentally, more than a century later, the existence of Loup’s publication became known to the Leiden genealogist W.J.J.C. Bijleveld (1878-1952). When he discovered that the Philips family was trying to acquire Loup’s booklets in order erase the Jewish part of their familial history (by destroying all surviving evidence of their Christianization), he lent his own copy to printer and publisher J.J. Groen in Leiden, who was experimenting with “a new reproduction system for documents”. This copy most likely is one of those Bijleveld reproductions.

judaism – conversion – Bijleveld – leermiddel – letters – correspondence – jodenbekering – zaltbommel – Philips gloeilampen – curious stories

SKU: 67767

Bound in blue paper, 21.2 x 12.7 cm. A few signs of wear.

€ 163,50 (€ 150,00 ex. btw)

In stock