Note: 36,057 words (in Gutenberg #38413, headings and captions included) First published as a 6-part serial in The Idler v4 #1-6 (August 1893 to January 1894), beginning under this five-line heading:   The King of the Schnorrers.   By I. Zangwill.   Illustrations by G. Hutchinson. [George Hutchinson]   I.   Shewing how the wicked philanthropist was turned into a fish-porter. The first instalment, vol. 4 pp. 24-41, contains about six b/w illustrations, some signed so briefly as "Geo. H." The one full-page illustration is clearly signed "Geo. Hutchinson 93" (p. 30).

Synopsis: "These episodes make no claim to veracity, while the personages are not even sun-myths. I have merely amused myself and attempted to amuse idlers by incarnating the floating tradition of the Jewish Schnorrer, who is as unique among beggars as Israel among nations. The close of the eighteenth century was chosen for a background, because, while the most picturesque period of Anglo-Jewish history, it has never before been exploited in fiction, whether by novelists or historians. To my friend, Mr. Asher I. Myers, I am indebted for access to his unique collection of Jewish prints and caricatures of the period, and I have not been backward in schnorrinG suggestions from him and other private humourists." --from the Foreword to the 1894 collection (viewed as Gutenberg #38413)