É. Apor (ed.): A Scheiber-könyvtár katalógusa / Catalogue of the Scheiber Library.
Menahem Schmelzer: Scheiber professzor szeretett könyvei
xiv brary. He maintained contacts with scholars of Judaic and Oriental studies all over the world and was able to obtain important publications from the United States, Israel and elsewhere. Accordingly, in the post-Second World War period, when other libraries in Hungary were either uninterested or unwilling to acquire books in the field of Jewish studies, Scheiber's library continued to grow and became a most important and unique resource. Scheiber loved his books not only for their contents; he had an almost sensual enjoyment when holding a book in his hands. It mattered greatly to him how a book looked, how it felt when one touched it, even how it smellcd. Still, the library functioned mainly as an instrument of his virtuosity in scholarship and teaching. Working late hours at his book-crammed study he used the library for all the rich results that he produced as the quintessential Jewish scholar both in his written and oral teachings. Indeed, Scheiber's multifaceted personality is mirrored in his highly important library. In the present context, writing about him and his books, at the time when the collection becomes available for use to the scholarly public at large, it seems that it is fitting to single out Scheiber's preoccupation with Jewish booklore and bibliography. This great interest found expression in his scholarly writings as well as in his private library. We find many contributions to these areas in his bibliography which contains close to 1600 entries 1. Scheiber also wrote a large number of reviews, not only of individual books, but comprehensive surveys of then current publications 2. He compiled or supplemented bibliographies of leading scholars (L. Blau, I. Goldziher, M. Guttmann, B. Heller, S. Klein, I. Loew, A. Loewinger, J. Wellesz) 3. He published a bibliography of Maimonidean scholarship in Hungary 4. The history of the Jewish book, from ancient to modern times, was a topic with which he dealt frequently. Immediately after the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Scheiber published a series of articles about them 5. Among the various depositories of Genizah fragments he searched for, discovered, and subsequently published medieval Hebrew booklists and information regarding the work of medieval copyists of Hebrew books 6. His interest also extended to Hebrew booklists originating from later periods 7. He wrote on subjects that have bearing on the 1. See: Róbert Dán, Scheiber Sándor irodalmi munkásságának bibliográfiája. In: S. Scheiber, Folklór és tárgytörténet, Második, bővített kiadás, volume 2, Budapest, 1977, pp. 507-573 and vol. 3, Budapest 1984, pp. 587-608. 2. ib., nos. 38,48,168,171, 205, 208, 350, 377, 409, 423, 446, 763, etc. 3. ib., nos. 23,199 and 517, 113, 55 and 56, 397 and 460, 158, 462, 955. 4. ib., number 114. 5. ib., nos. 224, 288, 302, 348, 352. 6. ib., nos. 323, 948 991, 1030, 1035, 1083, 1188, 1388, 1428. 7. ib., nos. 1234, 1258.
