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This week the JC is celebrating its 175th anniversary. And clearly 2016 is 175 years after 1841.
But there is more to it than that.
For instance: should we adopt the Gregorian or the Hebrew calendar? As the first issue of the Jewish Chronicle bears the date November 12 1841, Cheshvan 28, 5602, the anniversary falls on either Saturday November 12 or, by prioritising the Hebrew calendar, Tuesday November 29 2016.
However, deciding which calendar to adopt is only the first of several problems that arise if we examine the early history of the Jewish Chronicle and also of the Voice of Jacob, a rival publication.
At the outset it should be noted that the late 1830s and early 1840s was a period of very rapid but precarious growth in publishing in Britain. Many new periodicals were founded, but a high proportion did not survive for long. Fortunes were to be made, but some printers, publishers and proprietors of periodicals went bankrupt.
The first JC closed leaving its founder with huge debts
Passing over two earlier Jewish periodicals - the short-lived Hebrew Intelligencer (1823) and the Hebrew Review (1834–7) - the year 1841 saw the launch of two titles directed at the Anglo-Jewish community.
The first was the Voice of Jacob, founded by Jacob Franklin (1809–1877), a traditional Orthodox Jew from a prominent family with connections to the Anglo-Jewish elite.
He established the Voice of Jacob in order to address the low level of Jewish knowledge and observance among British Jews, and the recent foundation of a Reform synagogue in London.
Franklin financed the venture with the support of Sir Moses Montefiore and other communal leaders. The first issue carried the publication date September 16 1841; Rosh Hashanah (Tishri 1) 5602.
It would appear that Franklin, who had little if any previous experience in periodical production, intended to publish the Voice of Jacob himself. However, in the third issue a publisher is introduced - "Steill, Paternoster Row".
Paternoster Row, in the city of London, was the centre of the London book trade and Franklin would not have been able to sustain the Voice of Jacob without the support of a publisher. He therefore formed an alliance with Benjamin Steill, a political radical, apparently with no previous connection to the Jewish community. It would also appear that Franklin changed the printer after the second issue.
Although a gap of four weeks separated the first and second issues, the Voice of Jacob subsequently became a fortnightly publication (except for a short period in the autumn of 1842 when it was issued weekly).
After five years Franklin, who probably undertook much of the editorial work, severed his connection with the newspaper. However, it continued under new management for a further two years, but then encountered insuperable financial difficulties.
While the Voice of Jacob maintained regular fortnightly publication over a period of seven years, the early history of the JC was far more precarious.
It was founded by Isaac Vallentine, a small and not very successful printer from Houndsditch, in the City of London, which lay in an area of high Jewish population.
Initially Vallentine owned, printed and published the Jewish Chronicle, although from the fourth issue he, following Franklin, had to secure the services of a publisher on Paternoster Row. This was William Brittain, who already published a number of periodicals including several temperance magazines.
Vallentine enrolled two editors - David Meldola, the leader of the Spanish and Portuguese community at Bevis Marks Synagogue, and the young UCL-educated Moses Angel, who taught at the Jews' Free School (and was soon to become its illustrious head).
The first issue of the Jewish Chronicle appeared on Friday November 12 1841. However, on April 22 1842, the first series ended after 24 weekly issues. Subsequently three issues of a second series were published, the last on May 22 1842. The history of Vallentine's Jewish Chronicle ended there, leaving him with substantial debts that probably led to his imprisonment.
More than two years later, on October 18 1844 (Cheshvan 5 5205), a fortnightly publication with the title the Jewish Chronicle and Working Man's Friend was launched. As the title suggests, it was aimed at a wider cross-section of Anglo-Jewry than the Voice of Jacob and it was also less antagonistic to the Reform synagogue.
This new paper was owned by Joseph Mitchell (c1800–1854), whom the historian David Cesarani described as "a lively character and, one suspects, something of a rogue" in his 1994 history of the JC.
Although Mitchell was argumentative and made enemies easily, he managed to create a fairly stable situation for the periodical. He hired an effective editor, the learned Marcus Bresslau from Hamburg, and also employed the most respected printer of Hebrew books in London, John Wertheimer of West Street, Finsbury Circus.
And what was Vallentine's role? Initially he was named as the co-publisher, together with William Brittain of Paternoster Row. However, in May 1845 he was moved - presumably demoted - to the Jewish Chronicle's Houndsditch office. Thus he was no longer either its printer or its co-publisher.
Two subsequent changes to Mitchell's periodical are relevant. First, beginning with its 21st number (June 27 1845) the title was changed to the Jewish Chronicle with the removal of the words "and Working Man's Friend". This new title has remained unchanged to the present day, except that the acronym "JC" has been added to the paper's masthead. Second, in October 1847, it became a weekly, which indicates that it had by then a sufficiently large circulation to justify doubling the number of issues each year.
To return to the question raised at the beginning of this article: when is the 175th anniversary? As noted above, one answer is November 12 or Cheshvan 28 (which falls on November 29 this year).
However, in the light of the disjunction between Vallentine's Jewish Chronicle and Mitchell's Jewish Chronicle and Working Man's Friend - with only the publisher William Brittain straddling the two and Vallentine adopting a different role in the latter - it might be argued that the anniversary should be held on October 18 2019 or Cheshvan 5 (November 3 2019).
This proposal accentuates the continuity of publication spanning the Jewish Chronicle and Working Man's Friend, founded by Mitchell in 1846, and the present-day JC, while ignoring Vallentine's short-lived newspaper.
However, a case can also be made for celebrating the founding of the Voice of Jacob, the 175th anniversary of which fell on September 16 2016 (or Rosh Hashanah). Not only did the Voice of Jacob predate Vallentine's periodical by two months, but particularly during its first five years existence it was the more stable publication and - although figures are difficult to obtain - it appears to have attracted a larger readership than its rival.
Hence, as well as marking the 175th anniversary of the JC in November 2016, there is good reason to celebrate this anniversary on two - even four - other occasions.
Geoffrey Cantor is professor emeritus of the history of science at the University of Leeds and an honorary senior research associate at University College London
