Hebrew Incunabula in the Russian Researchers’ Publications. Bibliographic Review

Hebrew incunabula amount to a rather modest, in terms of number, group of around 150 editions that were printed within the period from the late 60s of the 15th century to January 1, 1501 in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Turkey. Despite such a small number of Hebrew incunabula, the role they played in the history of the formation of European printing cannot be overlooked. Even less possible is to overestimate the importance of Hebrew incunabula for understanding Jewish spiritual life as it evolved in Europe during the Renaissance.

Russian depositories house 43 editions of Hebrew incunabula, in 113 copies and fragments. The latter are distributed as following: the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences — 67 items stored; the Russian State Library — 38 items; the National Library of Russia — 7 items; the Jewish Religious Community of Saint Petersburg — 1 item. The majority of these books came in public depositories at the late 19th — first half of the 20th century from private collections of St. Petersburg collectors: Moses Friedland (1826—1899), Daniel Chwolson (1819—1911) and David Günzburg (1857—1910). This article looks into the circumstances of how exactly these incunabula were acquired by the depositories. For the first time there are analysed publications of Russian scholars that either include descriptions of Hebrew incunabula (inventories, catalogues, lists) or related to various aspects of Hebrew incunabula studies. The article presents the first annotated bibliography of all domestic publications that are in any way connected with Hebrew incunabula, covering the period from 1893 (the first publication) to the present. In private collections, there was paid special attention to the formation of incunabula collections. It was expressed in the allocation of incunabula as a separate group of books in printed catalogues and the publication of research works on incunabula studies, which belonged to the pen of collectors themselves and haven’t lost their scientific relevance today.

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2. Iakerson S.M. Evreiskie sokrovishcha Peterburga. Svitki, kodeksy, dokumenty [Jewish Treasures of Petersburg. Scrolls, Codices, Documents]. St. Petersburg, Arka Publ., 2008, 263 p.

3. Lisitsina A.V. From the History of the Manuscript Part of the Günzburg Collection in the Russian State Library, Otechestvennye arkhivy [Russian Archives], 2010, no. 3, pp. 38—44 (in Russ.).

4. Iakerson S.M. The Unknown Copy of a Hebrew Incunabulum in the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts Collection. Supplementum to the Catalogue of Hebrew Incunabula in the Library of the Leningrad Branch of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Soviet Academy of Sciences (Leningrad, 1985), Pis’mennye pamyatniki Vostoka [Written Monuments of the Orient]. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 2009, no. 1(10), pp. 204—210 (in Russ.).

5. Parafilo D.M. To the Question on Formation to the Book Collection “Kara-Bitikligi”, Uchenye zapiski Tavricheskogo natsional’nogo universiteta im. V.I. Vernadskogo. Seriya: Istoricheskie nauki [Scientific Notes of the Taurida National V.I. Vernadsky University. Historical Sciences Series], 2013, vol. 26 (65), no. 2, pp. 112—124 (in Russ.).

6. Kennedy Grimsted P. Chabad Sacred Texts, Russian-American Art Loans, and a Tall Ship Named “Hope”: Beyond Cold War over a Restitution Claim, Art Antiquity and Law, 2013, vol. 18, no. 4, pp. 345—406.

7. Haebler K. Der Westeuropäische Wiegendruck. Tafel 1—60. Munich, 1928.

8. Knigovedenie: entsiklopedicheskii slovar’ [Book Science: encyclopedic dictionary]. Moscow, 1982, 664 p.

9. Richler B. Guide to Hebrew Manuscript Collections. Jerusalem, The Israeli Academy of Sciences and Humanities Publ., 2014, 409 p.

10. Offenberg A. Hebrew Incunabula in Public Collections: A First International Census. Nieuwkoop, De Graaf Publishers, 1990, 214 p.

11. De Rossi G.B. Annales Hebraeo-Typographici Sec. XV. Descripsit fisocue commentario illustravit Joh. Bernardus De-Rossi. Parmae, 1795, XXIV, 184 p. (Reprint: Amsterdam, 1969).

12. Marx A. The Literature of Hebrew Incunabula, Studies in Jewish History and Booklore. New York, 1944, pp. 277—295.

13. Offenberg A. Literature on Hebrew Incunabula Since the Second World War, A Choice of Corals. Nieuwkoop, 1992, pp. 1—41.

14. Tishby P. A Comprehensive Bibliography on Hebrew Incunabula, Kiryat Sefer, 1990/1991, vol. 63, pp. 579—602.

15. Aziatskii Muzei. Institut vostochnykh rukopisei RAN: putevoditel’ [Asiatic Museum. The Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences: guide]. Moscow, Vostochnaya Literatura Publ., 2018, 895 p.

16. Wiener S. Bibliotheca Friedlandiana: Catalogus librorum impressorum hebraeorum in Museo Asiatico Imperialis Academiae Scientiarum Petropolitanae asservatorium. Fasc. I. Petropoli, 1893, 126 p. (in Hebr.).

17. Wiener S. Bibliotheca Friedlandiana: Catalogus librorum impressorum hebraeorum in Museo Asiatico Imperialis Academiae Scientiarum Petropolitanae asservatorium. Fasc. II. Petropoli, 1895, XII, 96 p. (in Hebr.).

18. Wiener S. Bibliotheca Friedlandiana: Catalogus librorum impressorum hebraeorum in Museo Asiatico Imperialis Academiae Scientiarum Petropolitanae asservatorium. Fasc. V. Petropoli, 1904, 106 p. (in Hebr.).

19. Chwolson D. Catalog der Hebräischen Bücher in der Bibliothek des Professor D. Chwolson. Wilna, 1897, 142 p. (in Hebr.).

20. Iakerson S.M. Katalog inkunabulov na drevneevreiskom yazyke biblioteki Leningradskogo otdeleniya Instituta vostokovedeniya AN SSSR [The Catalogue of Hebrew Incunabula from the Library of the Leningrad Brunch of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR]. Leningrad, 1985, 108 p.

21. Abramsky Ch. Hebrew Incunabula in Leningrad, Soviet Jewish Affairs, 1987, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 53—60.

22. Nemoy L. Iakerson’s “Hebrew Incunabula in Leningrad”, The Jewish Quarterly Review, 1986—1987, vol. 77, no. 2—3, pp. 238—239. DOI: 10.2307/1454488.

23. Kolyakov S. New Book on Hebrew Incunabula, Sovetish Geimland [Soviet Motherland], 1986, no. 7, pp. 97—98 (in Yiddish).

24. Kiselyov N.P. (ed.) Inventar’ inkunabulov Vsesoyuznoi biblioteki im. V.I. Lenina. Vyp. 1: nalichie na 01.01.1939 [The Inventory of Incunabula of the V.I. Lenin All-Union Library. Issue 1: availability on 01.01.1939]. Moscow, 1939, 92 p.

25. Cherkashina N.P., Bilenkaya K.L. Inventar’ inkunabulov [Inventory of Incunabula]. Moscow, Gosudarstvennaya Biblioteka SSSR im. V.I. Lenina Publ., 1977, issue 2, 72 p.

26. Cherkashina N.P., Bilenkaya K.L. Inventar’ inkunabulov [Inventory of Incunabula]. Moscow, Gosudarstvennaya Biblioteka SSSR im. V.I. Lenina Publ., 1979, issue 3, 86 p.

27. Cherkashina N.P., Bilenkaya K.L. Inventar’ inkunabulov [Inventory of Incunabula]. Moscow, Gosudarstvennaya Biblioteka SSSR im. V.I. Lenina Publ., 1985, issue 5, 96 p.

28. Vartanov Yu.P., Kukushkin S.V., Nesis A.K. Katalog evreiskikh inkunabul Rossiiskoi gosudarstvennoi biblioteki [The Catalogue of Hebrew Incunabula of the Russian State Library]. Moscow, 2003, 57, 39 p.

29. Iakerson S.M. Book Review: The Catalogue of Hebrew Incunabula of the Russian State Library, Vostok [Oriens], 2005, no. 1, pp. 184—191 (in Russ.).

30. Iakerson S.M. Evreiskie inkunabuly. Opisanie ekzemplyarov, khranyashchikhsya v bibliotekakh Moskvy i Leningrada [Hebrew Incunabula. Description of Publications Kept in Libraries of Moscow and Leningrad]. Leningrad, 1988, 337 p.

31. Iakerson S.M. Bol’shaya khoral’naya sinagoga v Sankt-Peterburge [The Grand Choral Synagogue in St. Petersburg]. St. Petersburg, 2006, 64 p.

32. Chwolson D.A. Jewish Early Printed Books, Sbornik v pol’zu nachal’nykh evreiskikh shkol [Collection in Favor of Jewish Primary Schools]. St. Petersburg, 1896, pp. 1—40 (in Russ.).

33. Chwolson D. The Beginning of Book-Printing in Israel. Translated from Russian with Notes and Additions by the Author. Warsaw, 1897, 47 p. (in Hebr.).

34. Günzburg D. Le premier livre imprimé en hébreu, Recueil des travaux rédigé en mémoire du Jubilé Scientifique de M. Daniel Chwolson. Berlin, 1899, pp. 57—121.

35. Kazenelson L., Günzburg D.G. (eds.) Incunabula, Evreiskaya entsiklopediya. Svod znanii o evreistve i ego kul’ture v proshlom i nastoyashchem [The Jewish Encyclopedia. A Code of Knowledge about Jewry and its Culture in the Past and Present]. St. Petersburg, Brokgauza — Efrona Publ., [1911], vol. 8, column 190—194 (in Russ.).

36. Jacobs J. Incunabula, The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York, 1904, vol. VI, pp. 575—580.

37. Yerusalimsky A. Treasures of Jewish Culture in the State Library named after V.I. Lenin, Sovetish Geimland [Soviet Motherland], 1981, no. 7, pp. 134—138 (in Yiddish).

38. Yerusalimsky A. Incunabula and the Ideological Struggle, Sovetish Geimland [Soviet Motherland], 1981, no. 11, pp. 145—152 (in Yiddish).