The Council having decided to continue the issue of its Transactions during the time of war, this volume is now circulated to them embers
of the Society with certain customary features modified. For reasons of economy the Preface has been curtailed, the number of photo?
graphs limited to one, whilst the Laws and the List of Members have been omitted.

The succession of lectures and publications under the auspices of the Society in the years 1935?1939 is evidence of its continued vitality. The membership now exceeds 800. The general communal interest in our work is revealed by the attendances at the annual Lucien Wolf Memorial Lectures when the Great Hall of University College was filled by audiences of over a thousand visitors. In order to popularise the Society in communities beyond the metropolis, meetings have been held in Liverpool, Harrogate, Brighton, Man? chester and Birmingham?many new subscribers being thus enrolled.

Special meetings were held to mark the 150th anniversary of the death of Moses Mendelssohn and the quincentenary of the birth of Isaac Abravanel.
Upon the retirement of the Rev. Michael Adler from the office of President, after two years, Dr. Cecil Roth was elected in 1936, and was succeeded by Mr. Philip Guedalla in 1938.

After rendering devoted service as Hon. Secretary for a period of over five years, the Rev. Walter Levin was obliged to resign owing to ill-health. The Council have tendered theirm ost grateful thanks to Mr. Levin for the zealous manner in which he had discharged his duties. In his place, the Rev. Arthur Barnett was elected Hon.Secretary.

great honour was paid to the Gustave Tuck Museum in February 1938 when Queen Mary visited it. She was shown round the exhibits by Mr. Tuck and Dr. Roth, Her Majesty taking con? siderable interest in all she saw. Many valuable additions have been made to the Museum by its founder, and also, in memory of their father, by Messrs. Lionel and Anthony de Rothschild.

large number of duplicates from the Mocatta Library were offered to the Central Public Library in Manchester in the hope that they would form the nucleus of a local centre for Jewish historical studies. This gift has resulted in the organisation of a special Jewish section, which was publicly inaugurated in April 1938.

The two Presidential Addresses in this volume by Dr. Roth were reprinted and widely circulated for Jewish Defence purposes by the Board of Deputies?the value of the work of the Society in studying both past and modern Jewish history being thus amply demonstrated. Mention should be made of the conferment of Honorary Member? ship upon four distinguished friends of the Society: the Very Rev. Dr. Hertz, Chief Rabbi, upon the celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of his tenure of office; Mr. Elkan N. Adler, the Nestor of Jewish bibliographers, and also upon Dr. M. Gaster and Professor S. Freud, both of whom have since passed away.

At the Book Fair organised by the Sunday Times in 1937, the Society took the lead in arranging a Jewish