R. Gergely (ed.): Microcard catalogue of the rare hebrew codices, manuscripts and anciens prints in the Kaufmann Collection reproduced on microcards

Prof. Ignácz Goldziher's lecture

For the general interest of science it can be considered as lucky that in the branches mentioned above we have grown richer by a library collected in the same spirit as the endowment bearing the name of David Kaufmann. His late owner was not led by amateur points of view, but his collecting was prompted by specialist aims, in the strict sense of the word. Although, as I shall have an occasion to report in detail, the library abounds in bibliographical and typographical curiosities also, its collecting was not directed in the first place by such considerations but by the zeal of the specialist who first of all desired to group round himself as complete an apparatus as possible for his own extensive and many-sided studies. The mode of the acquisition of his library was in the line of this intention of his. The bulk of his collection comes from the estates of deceased specialists, mainly from Italy. Rarer are the single purchases or the acquisitions extending to smaller groups ; for these items also topical, rather than formal, points of view were decisive. Therefore, we may justly say that the Kaufmann library is, in addition to its bibliographical importance, a fully equipped Hebrew special library. It consists of three groups : I. CODICES AND MANUSCRIPTS, 594 in number, ranging over all the branches and ages of Hebrew literature. They include valuable old manuscripts of the Bible with translations and glosses in Arabic and Aramaeic, philological and massoretic works, exegetical works, manuscripts relating to the Talmudic science and the religious laws, historical documents, works on kabbalah, liturgy, mathematics, astronomy, medicine, theology, and philosophy. The overwhelming majority of these manuscripts consists of still unedited works. It would be difficult to pick some items out of this richness at random. However, I want to emphasize three peculiar groups of this collection of manuscripts. First, there are several manuscripts which are entirely unica, for there exist no copies of them in any other library. Such is, e. g, Nr. 280 3 : it is a philosophical work entitled Kitäb al-muhtawl in Arabic in Hebrew characters by Yüsuf al-Ba§Ir (11th century C. E.). It is dated from 1021, which in this case can only mean that copy is 3 We refer to the catalogue numbers of M. Weisz. 14