Costa Athias, Solomon da
COSTA ATHIAS, SOLOMON DA
COSTA ATHIAS, SOLOMON DA (1690–1769), founder of the Hebrew collection in the British Museum. Da Costa Athias, who is also often referred to simply as Solomon da Costa, went from Amsterdam to London as a young man, amassed a considerable fortune as a broker, and became well known for his liberal views in Christian as well as Jewish society. Some Shabbatean works which he copied are still extant. He presented the newly opened British Museum in 1759 with its original Hebrew collection of 179 printed volumes and three manuscripts which had been collected and specially bound for Charles ii.
bibliography:
Hyamson, in: Gaster Jubilee Volume (1936), 260–6. add. bibliography: Katz, England, 371–72.
[Cecil Roth]
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Costa Athias, Solomon da