Portrait of R. Shlomo Hirschel-Berlin, first chief rabbi of Britain; lithograph by Simon fils. Strasbourg (France), [ca. 1830s-1840s].
Portrait of R. Shlomo Hirschel-Berlin, beside his book Chochmat Shlomo. Beneath the portrait, printed inscriptions in Hebrew and French - "Portrait of… the outstanding Torah scholar R. Shlomo son of… R. Tzvi, rabbi of the Ashkenazi community in London and England" - "S. Hirschel. Grand Rabbin de Londres".
R. Shlomo Hirschel-Berlin (1761-1842), rabbi of Prenzlau (Poland) and London, was the son of R. Tzvi Hirsh Rabbi of Berlin and great-grandson of R. Tzvi Hirsh Ashkenazi - Chacham Tzvi. He succeeded his father as rabbi of the Ashkenazi community in London and Great Britain, from 1802 until his passing in 1842. All his descendants married into prominent families, and following his instructions, returned to live in Poland (Kelilat Yofi, pp. 134-135).
[1] leaf. Approx. 23X17 cm, mounted on cardboard. Fair-poor condition. Marginal stains and wear. Tear (affecting portrait and inscriptions), repaired. Lithograph trimmed, with loss (to upper right-hand corner of portrait, upper and right-hand margins of lithograph, repaired with paper and color replacement). Break to cardboard backing of lithograph.