É. Apor (ed.): David Kaufmann Memorial Volume: Papers Presented at the David Kaufmann Memorial Conference, November 29, 1999, Budapest.
ORMOS, István: David Kaufmann and his Collection
ISTVÁN ORMOS It was David Kaufmann who first used the term "Jewish art" in an article published in 1878. 5 4 He also dealt with subjects relating to the history of medicine: Isak Israelis Propädeutik für Ärzte = Magazin fur die Wissenschaft des Judentums 11(1884) 97112 (reprinted in KAUFMANN 1908-1915. III. 262-275); Die jüdischen Schüler des Antonius Musa Brasavola in Ferrara = Monatsschrift für Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judentums 38 (1894) 127-132 (reprinted in KAUFMANN 1908-1915. III. 276-281). III. David Kaufmann's collection of manuscripts and books David Kaufmann was a passionate collector of manuscripts and books, for which the necessary material background was provided by his wife and her family. Schmelzer draws our attention to an interesting letter by Kaufmann to Berliner from which it appears clearly that the necessary sums of money were put at his disposal by his wife in every single case, and not always to the extent he may have wished. 5 5 It can also be mentioned that the famous luxuriously illuminated manuscripts for which his collection is so famous were never part of it actually: they were in the possession of his mother-inlaw, Mrs. Róza Gomperz, who donated them to the Academy herself together with the collection of her son-in-law. 5" In all probability, the price of these items may have been so high that not even the funds at the disposal of the wife were sufficient and so the passionate collector had to ask the help of his mother-in-law, who complied with his request but retained the ownership of these precious items, probably as a sort of assurance. Upon his sudden death the collection passed to his widow, who commissioned Max (Miksa) Weisz (1872-1931), one of Kaufmann's favourite students and an intimate friend of the family, 5 7 to prepare a catalogue raisonné meeting scholarly demands. 5 4 Joseph GUTMANN, Jüdische Kunst. In: Begegnungen mit dem Judentum. Ed. Bernhard Rübenach. Stuttgart-Berlin 1981. 167, 170. [= GUTMANN 1989. I. 167, 170.] 5 5 See ROSENTHAL 1903. 307 and Hermann I. SCHMELZER'S contribution to the present volume on p. 121 above. The relevant passage in KAUFMANN'S letter of 30 March 1885 runs as follows: Meine Frau ist eitel Pesach: nur hätte ich gewünscht, dass sie zu dem ägyptischen Geschäfte sich kräftiger gefühlt hätte. The word eitel is used here in an old meaning 'pure; nothing but; sheer,' with eitel Pesach perhaps recalling the expression eitel Freud und Wonne. 5 6 See p. 143 below. 5 7 Dr. Béla BAKONYI tells the author of these lines that his Bar Mitzvah was celebrated in the former synagogue in Aréna street because Max WEISZ was rabbi there. His mother KAUFMANN'S niece - used to consult the friend of the family, Max WEISZ, on all matters concerning David KAUFMANN and religion in general. 138
