Raphael Arthur Salaman FSA (24 April 1906 – 31 December 1993) was an English engineer, collector, and writer. His work recorded the hand tools used in Britain during the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries.
Contents
Biography
Family and education
R. A. Salaman, also known as Raph, was born in Barley, Hertfordshire into a well-established Anglo-Jewish family. His father was Dr Redcliffe N. Salaman, the botanist who wrote The History and Social Influence of the Potato. His mother Nina (née Davis) was a writer, poet and Hebrew scholar who tried to teach him Hebrew, which he found hard unlike his elder brothers. However, being Jewish was still important to Salaman and he used to tell his children about it and read the Bible.
The Salaman family were Ashkenazi Jews, who, according to his father, migrated to Britain from either Holland or the Rhineland in the early 18th century. His family were members of Bevis Marks Synagogue. Salaman's interest in tools developed from watching craftsmen in rural Hertfordshire.