"Shabbethei Bass and the construction (and deconstruction) of a Jewish library." Jewish Culture and History (2021). (original) (raw)
Related papers
Cristina Dondi (ed.), Printing R-Evolution and Society 1450-1500: Fifty Years that Changed Europe, Venice 2020 (Studi di storia, 13), pp. 321–338.
Hebrew incunabula from the collection of the National Library of Israel contain a vast amount of manuscript annotations, many of them of historical, philological, linguistic, and palaeographical interest. The paper presents a few examples of owners' notes that shed light on the history of books in early modern Jewish communities. From the book owned by the well-known rabbi Moses Alashkar, to a reference to the participation of rabbi Mordecai Dato in a family ceremony, and the extensive glosses of Samuel Lerma, to the joyful message of an unnamed Jew whose daughter had been released from captivity. Such material is a valuable resource for research on the distribution and use of early Hebrew printed books in Europe and beyond.
Description: The Old Jewish Library of Mainz was saved during World War II. The books were hidden in a coal cellar and survived in rather good condition. The collection of almost 5,500 volumes, among them rare Hebraica and manuscripts, is one of the very few libraries saved from the persecutions in Germany. In 1946, the books were brought to the newly founded university of Mainz. Most interesting is the reconstruction of the ownership of some of the books. Some of the books came from the private libraries of Rabbis and preachers of the Mainz community; most famous are Marcus Lehmann (1831-1890) and Siegmund Salfeld (1843-1926).The presentation will give an overview of the most precious volumes and the libraries history.
Bibliological and Religious Studies on the Hebrew Book
The presented essays are divided into three groups. The first article concerns the book produced by Jews in Central and Eastern Europe against the background of the world production of Hebrew books. The second, the printing of the New Testament in Yiddish (Hebrew fonts) in the first half of the 16th century in Krakow. This also includes two articles on the Talmud. The first article illustrates the intellectual effort of Polish Jews who faced the challenge of printing Talmudic tractates with valuable documentary annexes. The second presents the difficulties that the Jewish printers had to face when persecuted by the Polish censorship authorities. The last group opens with an article describing one of the most valuable European collections of Judaica - old prints from the Jagiellonian Library in Krakow, from the former Prussian State Library in Berlin. The second presents a part of the Saraval's collection - priceless Hebrew incunabula that were transferred from Prague to Wrocław. The third concerns the 14th-century Wolff Haggadah with a "Polish" episode in the background. Together, all the articles form a selective introduction to the little-known world of the Hebrew book.