Judaica Librarianship Volume 8 Vol. 8 no. 1-2 142-144 9-1-1994 Microfilming the Baron Guenzburg Collection of Hebrew Manuscripts in the Russian State Library in Moscow Benjamin Richler Jewish National and University Library, Jerusalem, Israel Follow this and additional works at: http://ajlpublishing.org/jl Part of the Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons, Information Literacy Commons, Jewish Studies Commons, and the Reading and Language Commons Recommended Citation Richler, Benjamin. 1994. "Microfilming the Baron Guenzburg Collection of Hebrew Manuscripts in the Russian State Library in Moscow." Judaica Librarianship 8: 142-144. doi:10.14263/2330-2976.1258. , . :J RARE BOOKS Microfilming the Baron Guenzburg Collection of Hebrew Manuscripts in the Russian State Library in Moscow* Benjamin Rich/er Jewish National and University Library Jerusalem, Israel Abstract: After the fall of the Com­ Until recently, there remained one great poetry, taught Hebrew literature and pub­ munist regimes in Eastern Europe, lacuna in the collection of microfilmed lished many papers on Judaic studies. large depositories of Hebraic manu­ manuscripts. Since the First World War, Baron David followed his father as head scripts in the former Soviet Union were libraries in Russia had in effect closed of the Society for the Promotion of Culture opened to Western scholars. In this their gates to scholars from the West. among the Jews in Russia and was active paper, the major collections are sur-­ Only a select few managed to visit some in other Jewish organizations, among veyed, with special emphasis on the of these libraries and occasionally obtain them the Mekize Nirdamim Society, which Baron Guenzburg collection in the photocopies of manuscripts from the for­ was dedicated to the publication of He­ Russian State Library in Moscow and mer Soviet Union. brew texts from manuscripts. the microfilming activities of the Jew­ ish National and University Library in Major collections of Hebrew manuscripts The Guenzburgs purchased manuscripts Russia and Ukraine in general and in exist in four libraries in the former Soviet from many sources, among them the Moscow in particular. Union: the Russian State Library in Mos­ estates of deceased scholars such as cow houses the Guenzburg collection of Seligmann Baer, Eliakim Carmoly and Introduction 1900 manuscripts, and more than 350 Nathan Coronel, as well as private book­ manuscripts are housed in other collec­ sellers. The collection excels in medieval In many areas of Jewish studies it is im­ tions; the Russian National Library in St. Hebrew manuscripts, but also includes possible to undertake comprehensive re­ Petersburg is home to the Firkovich col­ many books of more recent date. Most search without consulting manuscript lections, which include over 17,000 items were copied during the years 1250-1650. sources. As recently as three decades (several thousand manuscript books and The subject matter is varied:. biblical texts ago, a scholar doing research had to visit several thousand fragments or parts of and commentaries, works of Jewish ritual libraries all over the world in order to read manuscripts) as well as the Antonin col­ law (Halakhah) and Talmud, prayerbooks, manuscripts, or spend a large part of his lection of over 1000 Geniza fragments mystical works of Kabbalah alongside budget acquiring expensive photocopies and other, smaller collections numbering books of Jewish and Aristotelian philoso­ from dozens of libraries. The lot of the a few dozen manuscripts; the library of phy, and texts on astronomy, medicine, Judaica researcher improved enormously the Oriental Institute of the St. Petersburg and magic. Several Karaite works, mainly with the establishment in 1951 of the In­ branch of the Russian Academy of Sci­ for use in the synagogue, including Bibli­ stitute of Microfilmed Hebrew Manuscripts ences, which houses over 1100 Hebrew cal translations in the Judeo-Tatar dialect, (IMHM), which began to systematically manuscripts; and the Vernadsky Library are among the later acquisitions. collect microfilms of all the Hebrew manu­ of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences in scripts extant in public and private librar­ Kiev, which also holds several hundred Many of the manuscripts are unicums. A ies throughout the world. Over the past manuscripts, Geniza fragments, and com­ few examples serve to illustrate the wide forty-three years, the IMHM has built up a munal pinkasim. variety of rare or unique works: R. Isaiah collection of 50,000 Hebraic manuscripts de Trani's Nimuke /-jumash, which con­ (i.e., manuscript books written in Hebrew, History of the Guenzburg Collection tains more material than the printed ver­ Yiddish, Judaeo-Arabic, and other lan­ sion, is an example of an important work guages in Hebrew characters). Together Three generations of the Guenzburg fam­ of Biblical exegesis. Talmudic commen­ with the 10,000 original manuscripts in ily amassed one of the largest private col­ taries abound, some of which-such as a the adjacent Manuscript Department at lections of Hebrew books and manuscripts collection of ancient Tosafot on the trac­ the Jewish National and University Library in Europe at the beginning of the twenti­ tate Shabbat, completely different from (JNUL), the scholar visiting Jerusalem eth century. Begun by Joseph Guenzburg the published Tosafot-have never been has access to approximately 80% of all (1812-1878), the library grew under the published. A large collection of responsa the Hebrew manuscript sources extant in patronage of his son Horace (1833-1909) by Geonim and Rishonim will interest stu­ the world. and especially his grandson Baron David dents of Halakhah. Historians of science Guenzburg (1857-1910), who, it seems, may find unknown commentaries on acquired over half of the 2000 manuscripts Ptolemy's Almagest and an Arabic work in which the collection numbered at its peak. Hebrew letters by the early Jewish astrologer Sahl ben Bishr. In other fields * Revised and updated version of a paper David Guenzburg was a Judaic scholar of study, mention may be made of a ver­ originally published in the periodical of the and Orientalist who resided both in Paris sion of the dispute between Jehiel of Jewish National and University Library, and St. Petersburg. He specialized in the Paris and the apostate Donin in Paris in On Books and People. study of philology and medieval Arabic 1240, different from the published edition, 142 Judaica Librarianship Vol. 8 No. 1-2 Spring 1993-Winter 1994 , and the original version of R. Moses Haim been filmed on microfilm of inferior quality. Catalogs of the Collection Luzzatto's Sefer Mesi/at Yesharim, per­ Shortly after the agreement was signed, a haps the best-known book of Jewish new director was named to head the There is no printed catalog of the Guenz­ ethics, first written in the form of a dia­ Lenin Library: Prof. Igor Filipov, a profes­ burg collection. Senior Sachs prepared a logue between a Righteous Man and a sor of history at the Moscow University. brief handwritten list of MSS 1-830, called Wise Man. This last work was recently Even though he was very busy trying to Bet Yosef, which appeared in a very lim­ published from this manuscript (Jerusa­ solve the serious problems of the Russian ited lithographic edition sometime be­ lem: Ofeq Institute, 1994). State Library (RSL)-as it is now called­ tween 1866 and 1878. A later catalog in a Prof. Filipov was very cooperative and did different handwriting (perhaps that of In his will, Baron David Guenzburg re­ all he could to ensure that the microfilm Samuel Wiener), describing the remaining quested that his library be sold to a Jew­ project would be implemented and com­ MSS (831-1913), was compiled in the ish academic institution. After his death in pleted on schedule. early 1900s and is extant in the Stein­ 1910, the Jewish Theological Seminary schneider collection in the Library of the (JTS) of America in New York began In February 1992, Israel Weiser, deputy Jewish Theological Seminary of America. negotiations to purchase the collection director of the Reprographic Department Copies of both catalogs are found in the from Guenzburg's widow; but when of the JNUL went to Moscow in order to IMHM. Both catalogs are very brief, and Alexander Marx, the librarian at JTS, assess the manuscript collection and to inaccuracies or false identifications are, finally set out for St. Petersburg in 1914, prepare the logistics of the project. Mr. understandably, not rare. Aron Freimann the War broke out and all roads to Russia Weiser flew from Russia to the U.S., used the catalogs in compiling his Union were blocked. A few years later in 1917, a where he purchased some of the photo­ Catalog of Hebrew Manuscripts and their group of Russian Zionists signed an graphic equipment. Other pieces of equip­ Location (New York, 1964-73). Frei­ agreement to purchase the library and ment were constructed in the Reprographic mann's catalog can serve as an index to send it to the Jewish public library in Jeru­ Department and shipped to Moscow. In the Guenzburg collection, even though it salem (which later became the Jewish April 1992, Mr. Weiser and I traveled to cannot be more reliable than the handlists National Library), but the outbreak of the Moscow in order to begin the microfilming. it is based on. In his Catalog, Freimann Russian Revolution prevented the re­ refers to the Guenzburg collection as GI moval of the books to the Holy Land. Filming the Collection (= Sach's catalog) and GIi (= the serial Eventually the Guenzburg library was numbers in the second catalog. Adding appropriated by the Soviet government During the first days of our stay in Mos­ 830 to the serial number yields the and sent for safekeeping to the Lenin cow, we encountered innumerable bureau­ Guenzburg numbers). State Library in Moscow.