Israel Zangwill

[Chris]

Here's a poem entitled "The Great Conversion" by Israel Zangwill (writing under the pseudonym 'Marshallik'), published in the Jewish Standard of 26 October 1888. The second verse is obviously Ripper-related.

[Monty]

How weird Chris,

Ive just been reading about Zangwill in Jewish London Illustrated History by Gerry Black.

Many thanks for posting.

Cheers
Monty

[lynn cates]

Schwartz?

Hello Chris. Nice find.

I wonder if it's possible that the next section refers to Israel Schwartz and his story? Perhaps a different reference?

Cheers.
LC

[mariab]

Hello Lynn,
interesting thought, but we still don't have evidence about Israel Schwartz having been an actor – or have you found anything of recently, perhaps from the Jewish theater referred in the AF?
What would you make of the “feline mew“ – can you come up with any reference from a play? And the “antics fit to make the angels weep“ sounds to me like a compliment to the Jewish actor's skills.
Somehow this poem appears to me as reminiscent of Shylock's soliloquy (“If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die?“ etc.).
Lynn, I'll email you very soon about Nicolai Vassiliev, the St. John's Working Mens' Club on Backchurch Lane, around the corner from Berner Street, and some other things. I've been looking up stuff, but musicology (particularly an article on deadline for publication) is eating up most of my time right now. Still, I have some intense Ripperological research planned out which I'll end up doing at some point sooner or later, I promise.

[Errata]

What would you make of the “feline mew“ – can you come up with any reference from a play? And the “antics fit to make the angels weep“ sounds to me like a compliment to the Jewish actor's skills.

Henry Irving, famous Jewish actor, renowned for his Hamlet. "Good night sweet Prince, and flights of angels sing thee to my rest."

I used to know all the references, but that was a long time ago. I haven't thought of Zangwill in years.

[mariab]

I was seeking for a reference to “a feline's mew“.

[lynn cates]

IS

Hello Maria. Well, I doubt that it is a Schwartz reference. Still, wish I knew about the "theatrical line" reference.

I would be delighted to see anything about Vasilliev. There is no doubt in my mind but that Rachkovski took a pre-existing story and tweaked it to implicate his enemies.

Of course, it is one thing to take a situation like the "Double Event" and use it for your own purposes; it is quite another, however, to orchestrate it. I began to have doubts about whether a propaganda artist and enlister of agents provocateurs like Rachkovski could actually order a murder. But rereading Butterworth and the story of Cyprien Jagolkovsky reconfirmed for me the capabilities of Mr. Rachkovski.

Would you know:

1. the origin of the October story about the French killer (who sounds like Vasilliev)?

2. the date of the original Novosti article on Vasilliev?

Cheers.
LC

[Errata]

I was seeking for a reference to “a feline's mew“.

Popularity in London theater was almost universally first garnered in Music Hall, or Vaudeville. Not a whole lot of the works from those venues are known. It's a good bet it did come from Vaudeville though... the reference I mean. Most vaudeville humor was based on funny noises, slapstick, and bathroom humor. Abbot and Costello, Laurel and Hardy, the Marx brothers all came straight from those halls. If someone was to become famous for an odd noise, it would be there.

[Archaic]

Really an interesting find, Chris!

Thanks so much for posting it.

Best regards,
Archaic

[mariab]

Hello Maria. Well, I doubt that it is a Schwartz reference.

And I have no reason whatsoever to see this as a Schwartz reference, as it doesn't fit with anything directly pertaining to Schwartz' testimony.

But rereading Butterworth and the story of Cyprien Jagolkovsky reconfirmed for me the capabilities of Mr. Rachkovski.

I really need to hear the details about this, and I can consult Butterworth only online, not in its entirety. Could you enlighten me on the case of Cyprien Jagolkovsky (perhaps in an email)?

I would be delighted to see anything about Vasilliev. There is no doubt in my mind but that Rachkovski took a pre-existing story and tweaked it to implicate his enemies.

So you've stated in the Kaufmann thread.
Quote Lynn Cates:
The articles published in the Pall Mall Gazette, the Daily Telegraph and the Star resemble other articles planted in newspapers by the Okhrana as part of its provocation campaigns.
Can you elaborate (preferably in the Kaufmann thread or in a new thread) on which articles planted in the newspapers by the Okhrana you are referring to? Are you referring to Le Courrier Franco-Russe and to the Revue Russe? Do you have precise info on this, are the newspaper issues in question available to you, or do you wish me to look up these newspapers at the Bibliothèque Historique de la ville de Paris?

Would you know:
1. the origin of the October story about the French killer (who sounds like Vasilliev)?

Yes, I know about the October 12, 1888 newspaper story and it implicates Nikolai Vassiliev, but I'm not convinced of the accuracy of this newspaper story at all.

2. the date of the original Novosti article on Vasilliev?

November 17, 1888 (or November 5, 1888 according to the Julian calendar). Are you implying a specific significance for this date?

Lynn, are you aware of a very short dissertation by Christopher J. Morley (http://www.casebook.org/ripper_media/book_reviews/non-fiction/cjmorley/193.html) which completely lacks footnotes, doesn't quote any sources, and claims that Vassiliev was committed to an asylum in Bayonne, and released as cured on 1 January 1888, whereupon he declared his intention to go to London, but all this solely according to press reports, while there is apparently NO evidence that Vassiliev ever existed (??censuses?), NO records of his arrest or his committal to an asylum, and NO evidence to confirm that a series of murders actually occurred in Paris? I can easily research the criminal records in Paris, IF there are relatively complete records for the year 1888 (the online catalogue implies that there are records, without being very precise).
Apparently there is also an article by Stepan Poberowsky on Nikolai Vassiliev published in Ripperologist 50. No way for me to get this back issue in print (amazon.uk doesn't feature it anymore), unless some kind soul xeroxes it and sends it to me.

Perhaps Lynn should start a new thread about Vassiliev, copying and pasting our last 2 posts? The only reason I posted this here is, I'm deeply interested in hearing Chris Phillips' and Monty's (Neil Bell's) input on this.
Thus, profound apologies for the highjacking.
IF there's proof that Vassiliev existed and travelled from Paris to London in 1888 (and that's a big IF, apparently), we should research a possible connection of him to the IWEC. He's not mentioned in any of the French spy reports (on Whitechapel anarchist activity) that I already have, but there are more spy reports to go through in Paris.
Most relevant right now would be to consult the Rip 50 issue, I'd say, unless anyone else has relevant information on Vassiliev.

[mariab]

Most vaudeville humor was based on funny noises, slapstick, and bathroom humor. If someone was to become famous for an odd noise, it would be there.

You're absolutely correct, Errata.

[Archaic]

"I Will Aggravate My Voice": A Midsummer Night's Dream

Hi everyone.

I'm thinking that the stanza beginning "when an actor carried the town by storm/ by imitating a feline mew" might very well refer to Shakespeare's comedy
"A Midsummer Night's Dream." There are those hilarious scenes where the delightfully asinine Nick Bottom is so enthusiastic over their play that every time a new character is mentioned he insists that only he is capable of playing it- including the Lion.

BOTTOM: Let me play the Lion too: I will roar, that I will
do any man's heart good to hear me; I will roar,
that I will make the Duke say 'Let him roar again,
let him roar again!'
<<He roars in a campy & exaggerated way >>

QUINCE: An' you should do it too terribly, you would fright
the duchess and the ladies, that they would shriek;
and that were enough to hang us all.

ALL: That would hang us, every mother's son.

BOTTOM: I grant you, friends, if that you should fright the
ladies out of their wits, they would have no more
discretion but to hang us: but I will aggravate my
voice so that I will roar you as gently as any
sucking dove; I will roar you an 'twere any
nightingale!
<< He mews in a ridiculous high-pitched voice, which usually brings down the house>>

I'm trying to think of famous 19th C. British actors who played Bottom. In the Victorian era, Samuel Phelps and Herbert B. Tree did. I'm not sure if Phelps was Jewish. I know the latter was Jewish, but I'm not sure what year he played Bottom. He was a theater manager though and produced a very popular version of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' in the 1850's or 60's, so perhaps that's what it refers to. I don't think Irving played Bottom, though it's possible that he did when he was younger.

Or perhaps it refers to whoever played 'Snug the Joiner', as Snug ends up with the Lion's part in the play and of course makes it very silly. But Bottom really steals the show. It's so funny when he ends up with the Ass's Head and doesn't know it! James Cagney played a very funny 'Bottom the Ass' in the 1930's film...which reminds me, I'd like to watch it again.

I do think "feline mew" refers to a comic part. I interpret "antics fit to make the angels weep" to mean that they're laughing so hard they're crying.

What do you guys think?

Best regards,
Archaic

[mariab]

Actually, Archaic, I too was thiking of the lion in the play inside of the play in A midsummer night's dream, as well as of the Goldoni play L'impressario delle Smyrne {The impressario from Smyrna}, where the impressario in question gets inundated with all kinds of different actors in search of a job who are specialists in playing a lion, and a horse, etc..

PS.: I consider "feline mew" as referring to a comic part, and "antics fit to make the angels weep" as referring to a tragic part.

[ChrisGeorge]

Here's a portrait of Israel Zangwill (1864-1926). His story is interesting because he was both educated at the Jews' Free School in Spitalfields and taught there as well. He got into trouble with the administration of the school because his literary works, largely satires of East End Jewish life, were viewed as showing the Jews in a bad light. He then had to sever his relationship with the school.

[lynn cates]

nice

Hello Chris. Thanks for posting this.

Any details on how they were negatively portrayed?

Cheers.
LC