Joseph Zedner (10 February 1804 – 10 October 1871) was a German Jewish bibliographer and librarian.
After completing his education, he acted as teacher in the Jewish school in
Strelitz (
Mecklenburg
Mecklenburg (; nds, label= Low German, Mękel(n)borg ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schweri ...
), where the lexicographer
Daniel Sanders was his pupil. In 1832 he became a tutor to the family of the book-seller
A. Asher in Berlin, and later engaged in the book-trade himself; but being unsuccessful he accepted in 1845 a position as librarian of the Hebrew department of the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
in London. There he remained until 1869, when ill health compelled him to resign and to retire to Berlin, where he spent the last two years of his life. Shortly after his appointment, the British Museum acquired the library of the bibliophile
Heimann J. Michael of Hamburg, which Zedner catalogued.
Works
Zedner was the author of the following works:
*''Auswahl Historischer Stücke aus Hebräischen Schriftstellern vom Zweiten Jahrhundert bis in die Gegenwart, mit Vocalisiertem Texte, Deutscher Uebersetzung und Anmerkungen'' (Berlin, 1840)
*''Catalogue of the Hebrew Books in the Library of the British Museum'' (London, 1867)
*''Ein Fragment aus dem Letzten Gesange von Reineke Fuchs'' (Berlin, 1871), a poetical satire on
Napoleon III
Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...
.
He contributed to Asher's edition of the ''Travels'' of
Benjamin of Tudela (London, 1840), and wrote poems on two collections of portraits (''Ehret die Frauen,'' and ''Edelsteine und Perlen,'' Berlin, 1836–45). While in London, he published a second edition of
Ibn Ezra's commentary on the ''
Book of Esther'', to which he wrote an introduction entitled "Wa-Yosef Abraham."
References
*
Moritz Steinschneider, in ''Magazin für die Literatur des Auslandes,'' 1871, No. 44, abstracts of which are given in ''Allg. Zeit. des Jud.'' 1871, pp. 116–118, and in ''Generalanzeiger für die Gesammten Interessen des Judentums,'' Berlin, Feb. 22, 1904
*
External links
Jewishencyclopedia.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zedner, Joseph
1804 births
1871 deaths
19th-century German writers
German bibliographers
Bibliographers of Hebrew literature
Jewish German writers
Employees of the British Museum
Silesian Jews
People from the Province of Silesia
People from Głogów
19th-century German male writers
German male non-fiction writers