Original Photographs from London's New Yiddish Theatre (1946)
[Meisels, Abish (1893 – 1959)] A suite of fifteen original photographs of the New Yiddish Theater in London, each about 6 x 8 in. Each photograph with typed caption affixed to verso, and stamped "Bertha Klausner / Artists' and Literary Agency." With original envelope. Corner-mounted and housed in a three-ring binder.
Born in Galicia and raised by his grandfather, a cantor, Abish Meisels entered the world of the Yiddish theater as a youth. When he was 14 he co-founded a club in Tarnapol devoted to the work of the influential playwright Jacob Gordin, and staged the latter's Der yidisher kenig lir. He soon moved to Vienna, where he performed, produced revues, and translated plays into Yiddish, including works by Shaw, Shakespeare, and Wederkind. He was in the cast of H. K. Breslauer's Expressionist film, Die Stadt ohne Juden (1924). His novel set partially in London was serialized in Di tsayt.
"Meisels, fugitive playwright, watches the rehearsal from the stalls"
In 1938 Meisels emigrated to London, and in 1943 he founded the New Yiddish Theatre on Adler Street in the East End. Aptly, the theater stood intact in a region that was largely destroyed by the Blitz. Many of the company of the theater were, like Meisels, refugees from Nazi-occupied Europe; one sketch was performed by children who had survived the concentration camps, identified in the photo caption as "the Branded Boys from Buchenwald."
"The Branded Boys from Buchenwald take a rest between appearances"
These photographs offer a rare glimpse of the company and its audience during the heyday of the New Yiddish Theater. The images include photographs of rehearsals, performances, and players in what we think is likely an updated production of Meisel's revue, Oyf keyn tel-aviv. including portraits of Meisels and the celebrated actor Meyer Tzelniker, along with Anna Baum, Leo Blumenson, Miriam Karlova, Nathan Shwartz, and Anna Tzelniker. Six of these photographs were published in the Forward on 16 June 1946:
The New Yiddish Theater was short-lived. Wartime damage to the bulding's structure rendered it uninhabitable, and the urgent need for repairs to the roof forced it to close in 1947. The troupe relocated to the Alexandria Theatre in Stoke Newington, where it survived until the early 1950s.
Although Meisels died young, his family carried on the tradition; his daughter Ruth and his grandson is the actor David Schneider. These photographs, brokered by the dynamic agent Bertha Klausner (1901-1998), whose father was a columnist for the Forward, offer a unique record of a vibrant artistic community.
Selected References
- Blumesberger, Susanne, et al. Handbuch österreichischer Autorinnen und Autoren jüdischer Herkunft 18. bis 20. Jahrhundert. Band 2: J–R. Hrsg. von der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek (Saur, München 2002)
- Dalinger, Brigitte. “Popular Jewish drama in Vienna in the 1920s,” in Edna Nahshon, ed., Jewish Theatre: A Global View (Leiden: Brill, 2009), pp. 175-196.=
- Halpern, Stephanie. “The Yiddishists: London’s Yiddish Theatre,” Jewish Renaissance, January 2019, p. 46.
- Meisels, Abish. Von Sechistow bis Amerika: Eine Revue in 15 Bildern, ed Brigitte Dalinger and Thomas Soxberger (Vienna: Picus, 2000)
- Zylbercweig, Zalmen. Leḳsiḳon fun Yidishn ṭeaṭer (New York: Elisheva, 1931)
- Walker, Philip. "The New Yiddish Theatre, corner of Adler Street and Commercial Road." http://jewisheastend.com/yiddishtheatre.html
Product tabs
SOLD
Earn 0Reward points
Recommend this product

Original Photographs from London's New Yiddish Theatre (1946)
Related products
Colonial Recruitment Poster: Doctors in Fiji
NUNNEY, John (1897-1966). Learning to be Doctors in Fiji. British Information Service, [1945]. Printed by Alf Cooke Ltd, Leeds and London. 506 mm x 76...
view details
$2,350
View details
$3,250
W. Heath Robinson. Bill the Minder. His magnum opus. Signed, limited edition, in vellum
Robinson, W. Heath (1872-1944). Bill the Minder. London: Constable & Co. Ltd, 1912. First edition. Large 4to. Bound in publisher's full white vell...
view details
$3,250
View details
$2,500
Technical Specs for Splitting the Axis: Design for a World War II Propaganda Poster
Blades, John G[reenleaf] W[hittier] (1894 – 1964). Assembly Diagram, circa 1942. Original art, pencil and paper, 16 x 20 inches. Signed, "John G. W. B...
view details
$2,500
View details
$2,450
Charles C. Dawson's designs for Black Beauty Products
Dawson, Charles C. (1889–1981). A collection of advertising materials for African American beauty products. Chicago: Valmor Products & Co., circa ...
view details
$2,450
View details
$500
Max ERNST. Sept Microbes (1953). Microscopic Surrealism
Ernst, Max. Sept Microbes: Vus à Travers Un Tempérament. Paris: Les Editions Cercle des Arts, 1953. First edition. One of 1,000 numbered copies. A ...
view details
$500
View details
$650
Visionary designs for a Manhattan Project
[VASSILIEVE, Nicholas (1875-1958)] New York City Planning Commission. A Plan for Manhattan Civic Center and related improvements. [New York, 1948]. 29...
view details
$650
View details
Zarafamania!
$65
$65
Zarafamania!
Chalon, Alfred Edward (1780-1860). La Giraffe, dèdiée sans permission à Mademoiselle Chalon 1828. [London: The Graphic, 1889] 8pp., printed on rectos ...
view details
$65
View details
$0
A broadside from the Mexican Inquisition
[Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition] El orden que se ha de tener, quando se lea la carta de la anathema. [Mexico, n.d.]. Letterpress broad...
view details
$0
View details
$850
Rhode Island minstrel
Banks, Gus [George Ellery Crandall] (1864-1914). Coleman and Heagler Minstrels. Gus Banks, Monologue Artist, Comedian. Cincinnati: Donaldson Litho Co....
view details
$850
View details
$0
The complex cultural politics of a Kilkenny Fair
[Ó Gibealláin, Athanáis O.F.M. (1917-1992)]. Feis Chille Cainnigh. Poster, ca. early 1950s[?]. 45 cm x 50 cm. The poster, once folded has been mounted...
view details
$0
View details
$1,750
Photographs from the Evangelical Association, precursor to the United Methodist Church
[Breyfogel, Seneca P. (1823 – 1884)]. Photo album, c. 1860 to 1880. 5 ½ x 7 ¼ inches, decorative calf binding. The album contains 73 images, six of wh...
view details
$1,750
View details
$1,750
Boston broadside blasting beer: an experimental printing in black and gold
Dod, John (ca. 1549-1645). Sermon on Malt. Boston: [Isaac R.] Butts, [ca. 1840]. Broadside, 24 x 19 cm. Printed in gold ink on paper with a glossy bla...
view details
$1,750
View details
The original art for A Dark Adapted Eye by Barbara Vine / Ruth Rendell, winner of the Edgar Award
$2,250
$2,250
The original art for A Dark Adapted Eye by Barbara Vine / Ruth Rendell, winner of the Edgar Award
Sciacca, Thomas; Ruth Rendell (1930 – 2015). A Dark-Adapted Eye, 1986. Acrylic on Masonite. 13 ¾ x 11 ½ in. (central image: 11 ½ x 8 ½ in.). Some soil...
view details
$2,250
View details
$1,250
Gettysburg Veterans from Dutchess County, New York
TIPTON, William H. (1850-1929). Dedication of the 150th New York Monument, Sept 17th 1889. Original photograph (11 x 16¼ in.) mounted on cardstock (1...
view details
$1,250
View details
$850
A die-cut advertisement for Josephine Baker's Paris Mes Amours (1959)
[Baker, Joséphine (1906-1975)] Paris Mes Amours. Paris: L'Olympia / RCA Records, 1959. Die-cut counter advertisement, irregularly shaped: about 48.5 x...
view details
$850
View details
$250
Monopol: American-Israeli Gamesmanship
Monopol (Ramat-Gan: Hagal-Hachadash, 1972) 15 x 9.5 x 2 inch. Some light foxing to property cards, else a fine, unused set in original box, with the g...
view details
$250
View details
A most exquisite corpse
Price on Request
A most exquisite corpse
Lise Deharme (1898–1980), Paul Éluard (1895–1952), Georges Hugnet (1906–1974) and Raymond Queneau (1903–1976). Cadavre exquis, [Paris], circa 1925-193...
view details
Price on Request
View details
$1,250
Consumer culture, art, and subjectivity in Kazimierzowo, Chicago
Porembski, Olga V. (1924-2011). Rose Rosinski and Bruno Zidek, April 11, 1942. 96 leaves, 11½ x 14 in. (29 x 26 cm.) Homemade scrapbook comprised pri...
view details
$1,250
View details
Microart by Bruno Munari
$6,500
$6,500
Microart by Bruno Munari
Munari, Bruno (1907–1998). Four original constructions sent as holiday cards, a TLS, and two broadsides from the files of his translator, Maria Cimino...
view details
$6,500
View details