Lot 178
Official Original Copy of a Patent of Nobility Issued by Emperor Franz Joseph I to Simon Schossberger, Leader of the Jewish Community of Pest – Hungary, 1865
A Patent of Nobility issued by Emperor Franz Joseph I to Simon Vilmos Schossberger, the leader of the Jewish community of Pest – an official lithographic copy. Partly hand-colored. [Hungary], 1865. Hungarian.
A copy of a Patent of Nobility in the name of Simon Schossberger, the leader of the community of Pest during the years 1863-1865 and the first Hungarian Jew to receive a title of nobility without converting to Christianity (the title was awarded to him in 1863). The text is printed within ornate gold borders. The coat of arms appearing on the fifth page is colored by hand. Emperor Franz Joseph's and Simon Schossberger's names are highlighted in gold ink.
On the last page of the Patent, an official handwritten confirmation was added indicating that the Patent is an exact copy from the Királyi könyvek (Libri Regii, "the Royal Books", containing the copies of all the letters, orders and certificates of merit issued by the monarchs of Hungary), done in 1865. Hungarian revenue stamp and a paper seal with the emblem of the Austro-Hungarian Empire beside the confirmation.
[5] leaves, 38.5 cm. Cloth-covered card boards. Good condition. Minor blemishes. Stains to boards and margins of leaves, most of them minor. Slightly loose leaves.
Literature: Jewish Budapest: Monuments, Rites, History, edited by Géza Komoróczy (Budapest, 1999), p. 260.
