Call for Papers: Society for Textual Scholarship

re-posted from SHARP-L

CALL FOR PAPERS



The Society for Textual Scholarship



International Interdisciplinary Conference



31 May - ­ 2 June 2012



The University of Texas at Austin



Program Chairs: Coleman Hutchison & Matt Cohen, The University of Texas at Austin



KEYNOTE SPEAKERS:

George Bornstein, The University of Michigan

Jeffrey Masten, Northwestern University

Phillip H. Round, The University of Iowa



Deadline for Proposals: January 2, 2012



This conference will bring the Society for Textual Scholarship to a campus with internationally significant archival holdings, in one of the most interesting cities in the United States. A number of on-campus resources--the Harry Ransom Center, the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, and the Benson Latin American Collection, among others--and the vast multicultural attractions of Texas¹s capital city and technology hub make this an exciting venue for the meeting.



The Program Chairs invite a broad set of proposals on the discovery, enumeration, description, bibliographical analysis, editing, annotation, and mark-up of texts in disciplines such as literature, history, musicology, classical and biblical studies, philosophy, art history, legal history, the history of science and technology, computer science, library and information science, archives, lexicography, epigraphy, paleography, codicology, cinema studies, new media studies, game studies, theater, linguistics, women¹s studies, race and ethnicity studies, indigenous studies, and textual and literary theory.



Given the local context of the conference, we especially encourage submissions dealing with issues of race, ethnicity, cross-cultural textual questions, and translation--issues reflected in our choice of keynote speakers. As always, the conference is particularly open to considerations of the role of digital tools and technologies in textual theory and practice. Papers addressing aspects of archival theory and practice as they pertain to textual criticism and scholarly editing are also most welcome.



Submissions may take one of the following forms:



1. Papers. Papers should be no more than 20 minutes in length. They should offer the promise of substantial critical or analytical insight. Papers that are primarily reports or demonstrations of tools or projects are discouraged.



2. Panels. Panels may consist of either three associated papers or four or five roundtable speakers. Roundtables should address topics of broad interest and scope, with the goal of fostering lively debate between the panel and audience following brief opening remarks.



3. Workshops. Workshops should pose a specific problem, tool, or skill set for which the workshop leader will provide expert guidance and instruction. Examples might include an introduction to forensic computing or paleography. Workshop leaders should be prepared to offer well-defined learning outcomes for attendees, and describe them in the proposal. Proposals that are accepted will be announced on the conference website and attendees will be required to enroll with the workshop leader(s). NB: All workshops will be scheduled for Thursday, 31 May 2012.



Proposals for all formats should include a title; abstract of the proposed paper, panel, seminar, or workshop (500 words maximum); and the name, e-mail address, and institutional affiliation for each participant. Workshop proposals in particular should take care to articulate the imagined audience and any expectations of prior knowledge or preparation.



***All proposals should indicate what, if any, technological support will be required.***



*NB: We have secured on-campus housing for the conference at the rate of $70 per night. Conference participants who wish to arrive early and/or stay late--perhaps to take advantage of UT's vaunted archival resources or Austin's music scene--are welcome to do so.*



Inquiries and proposals should be submitted electronically to:



Professor Coleman Hutchison



STSTX2012@gmail.com



Additional contact information:



Department of English

1 University Station B5000

University of Texas at Austin

Austin, TX 78712



Phone: (512) 471-8372

Fax: (512) 471-4909 (marked clearly to Coleman Hutchison's attention)



All participants in the 2012 STS conference must be members of STS. For information about membership, please contact Secretary Meg Roland at or visit the Indiana University Press Journals website and follow the links to the Society for Textual Scholarship membership page: .



For conference updates and information, see the STS website at .

Call for Papers Association of Jewish Libraries 2012 Annual Convention

reposted from H-Judaic:

From: Rachel Leket-Mor

Subject: Call for Papers Association of Jewish Libraries 2012 Annual Convention

Association of Jewish Libraries
Research Libraries, Archives, and Special Collections Division Call for Papers, 2012 Annual Convention

The Research Libraries, Archives, and Special Collections Division (RAS) = of the Association of Jewish Libraries is soliciting paper proposals for = AJL's 47th Annual Convention in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, = California. Librarians, archivists, scholars, educators, authors and = others will meet to share their interest in Judaica librarianship, = Jewish literacy, and related topics.

We solicit paper proposals on all aspects of Judaica librarianship as it = is practiced in research libraries, archives, museums, and special = collections. Examples of appropriate topics include, but are not limited =
to:

* Future of libraries in the context of Jewish Studies;
* Technological developments and tools used in higher education =
libraries, such as cloud computing, academic social networks, or e-book = platforms;
* Special and rare collections;
* A special theme this year is Jewish life in Los Angeles: we welcome =
presentations about local institutions, libraries, archives and museums, = as well as programs celebrating Jews in Hollywood, the history of the = Jewish community in California or the Israeli community in Los Angeles.
* Collection development practices and policies, patron-driven =
acquisitions, and the print book culture;
* Best practices for library operations such as licensing, copyright, =
cataloging and processing of print, electronic and non-text materials;
* Best practices for user-oriented library services such as =
interlibrary loan, virtual reference, or teaching information literacy;
* Collaborative programs among AJL libraries or chapters;
* Round table discussions are welcome.
Submissions should include the following: presenter's name, address, = affiliation, telephone and email contacts; brief biography; title of = proposed presentation; summary of proposal; and specific technology or = equipment requirements, if any.

All submissions must be received by December 31, 2011. Please submit proposals by email to: ajl2012la [at] gmail [dot] com,or by mail to:

Sharon Benamou
UCLA Library Cataloging & Metadata Center
11020 Kinross Ave.
Box 957230
Los Angeles, CA 90095-7230

Rahcel Leket-Mor
President, Research Libraries, Archives, and Special Collections = Division (RAS) Association of Jewish Libraries =

JOB: Judaica and Hebraica Cataloger (contract), University of Maryland Libraries

reposted from H-Judaic:

Subject: JOB: Judaica and Hebraica Cataloger (contract), University of Maryland Libraries

The University of Maryland Libraries is seeking a Judaica and Hebraica = Cataloger (contract). Reporting to the the General Resources Cataloging = Unit Head the Judaica and Hebraica Cataloger is responsible for = performing original and complex copy cataloging of Jewish and Israel = Studies materials, in Hebrew or Yiddish, as well as in English and other = languages, and in all formats. Catalogs using relevant national, = University System of Maryland and Affiliated Institutions (USMAI) and = local standards in both a consortial database and OCLC. Trains and = supervises student assistant(s) direct reports.

Requirements:

=B7 High School Diploma or equivalent

=B7 Proficiency in reading, writing and speaking Hebrew =
language; familiarity with Hebrew romanization system; in-depth = knowledge of history, literature and other aspects of Jewish culture, = including rabbinics; knowledge of Yiddish desirable.

=B7 Minimum of three years of relevant experience in libraries =
with a minimum of two years of copy cataloging and /or database = maintenance experience in an academic, research, or special library in = one or more of the following areas: monographs cataloging, serials = cataloging, or authority control.

=B7 Knowledge of and proficiency with automated library systems, =
AACR2, RDA, LCPSs, LCRIs, LC classification, LCSH and MARC 21 formats, = and OCLC Connexion.

=B7 Must be able to manage a broad variety of tasks in response =
to shifting priorities and changing constraints.

=B7 Excellent interpersonal skills: ability to work both =
independently and collaboratively in a congenial team environment and to = interact effectively with a broad variety of staff within and outside of = Technical Services; ability to communicate clearly, knowledgably and = personably, orally and in writing, with all persons potentially affected = by the scope of the work.

This is a contractual appointment


Contact:=09
APPLICATIONS: Electronic applications required. Please apply online at = https://jobs.umd.edu. No relocation assistance will be provided. You = must be legally able to work in the United States; the University of = Maryland Libraries will not sponsor individuals for employment. An = application consists of a cover letter which includes the source of = advertisement, a resume, and names/e-mail addresses of three references.

The position is open until filled. Application review will begin on = Dec. 7, 2011.

The University of Maryland, College Park, actively subscribes to a = policy of equal employment opportunity, and will not discriminate = against any employee or applicant because of race, age, sex, color, = sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, religion, ancestry or = national origin, marital status, genetic information, or political = affiliation. Minorities and women are encouraged to apply.=20

Website: https://jobs.umd.edu/applicants/Central?quickFind=3D55879

November 30 at UPenn: Discussion of Talya Fishman's new book

Penn's Jewish Studies Program and Religious Studies Department host a panel book discussion of Talya Fishman's new book: "Becoming the People of the Talmud: Oral Torah as Written Tradition in Medieval Jewish Culture" -- Wed. Nov 30

WHO: David B. Ruderman (Penn), Harvey E. Goldberg (Hebrew University), Ephraim Kanarfogel (Yeshiva University), Joseph E. Lowry (Penn), Talya Fishman (Penn)

WHAT: Book Discussion "Becoming the People of the Talmud: Oral Torah as Written Tradition in Medieval Jewish Culture"

WHEN: Wednesday, November 30, 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm. Reception to follow.

WHERE: Class of '55 Room (2nd floor), Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center, 3420 Walnut Street. Please bring a photo I.D. to enter library.

In her new book, Becoming the People of the Talmud: Oral Torah as Written Tradition in Medieval Jewish Cultures, Professor Talya Fishman reconstructs evidence of the Babylonian Talmud’s transformation from an oral corpus to a written one, and explores the impact of this shift on many dimensions of Jewish society and culture.

Questions? Email jsp-info@sas.upenn.edu or call 215-898-6654

New Article in Book History

Eva Mroczek, "Thinking Digitally About the Dead Sea Scrolls: Book History Before and Beyond the Book," Book History 14 (2011).

available by subscription:
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/book_history/v014/14.mroczek.html

Today, 5 pm: David Stern in the History of the Book Seminar at Harvard

Tuesday, November 15, 5:00 pm. History of the Book (Humanities Center Seminar) presents:
“The Monk's Haggadah: The Story of a Remarkable Manuscript and the Story of its Discovery.”
David Stern (University of Pennsylvania and Radcliffe Institute)
Barker Center, Room 133, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

Fellowships at Columbia University Libraries

The Columbia University Libraries (CUL) invites applications from scholars and researchers to a new program designed to facilitate access to Columbia’s special and unique collections. CUL will award ten (10) grants of $2500 each on a competitive basis to researchers who can demonstrate a compelling need to consult CUL holdings for their work. Participating Columbia libraries and collections include those located on the Morningside Heights campus: the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Butler Library, the Lehman Social Sciences Library, the Rare Book & Manuscript Library, the C. V. Starr East Asian Library, and the Libraries' Area Studies Collections.

Applications will be accepted until January 31, 2012. Awards will be made by April 1, 2012 for research at Columbia during the period July 1, 2012 – June 30, 2013.

See http://library.columbia.edu/indiv/spcol/research_awards.html
Pamela Graham, Distinctive Collections Group Columbia University Libraries
212-854-3630
Email: libawards@libraries.cul.columbia.edu

Visit the website at http://library.columbia.edu/indiv/spcol/research_awards.html

UPDATE: And Michelle Chesner, librarian for Hebraica and Judaica at Colubmia, invites potential applicants who want to work with Columbia's large collection of Hebrew manuscipts to contact her directly: mc3395@columbia.edu; 212-854-8046

DVD's of Lehmann Workshop Available

Announcing DVD's are available for the The Manfred R. Lehmann Memorial Master Workshop in the History of the Jewish Book:

2011 Topic: "Collectors and Collections: Hebrew Manuscripts and Incunabula in Russia"
Speaker: Shimon Iakerson, Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Russian Museum of Ethnography.
(manned camera and enhanced audio to hear both speaker and participants)
6-DVD set $140

2010 Lehmann Workshop on "The Jewish Book In and Around Amsterdam"
Speaker: Emile Schrijver, University of Amsterdam
(manned camera and enhanced audio to hear both speaker and participants)
6-DVD set $140

2009 Lehmann Workshop on "The Traditional Eastern European Jewish Book, 1500-1900"
Speaker: Moshe Rosman, Bar Ilan University
(manned camera and enhanced audio to hear both speaker and participants)
6-DVD set $140

2008 Lehmann Workshop on "From Manuscript to Print: Reading Colophons, Title Pages, and Other Paratexts"
Speaker: Menachem Schmelzer, Jewish Theological Seminary.
(manned camera and enhanced audio to hear both speaker and participants)
6-DVD set $140

2007 Lehmann Workshop on "Genizah Texts and the Expansion of Jewish Literacy"
Speaker: Stefan Reif, University of Cambridge
(manned camera)
6-DVD set $130

2006 Lehmann Workshop on "Chapters in the Early History of Hebrew Printing in the Ottoman Empire and The Early Yiddish Book"
Speakers: Joseph Hacker, Hebrew University of Jerusalem; and Shlomo Berger, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
(manned camera)
6-DVD set $130

2005 Lehmann Workshop on "Jewish Book Art and Illumination"
Speaker: Sarit Shalev Eyni, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
(manned camera)
6-DVD set $130

2004 Lehmann Workshop on "Hebrew Printing 1470 to 1750"
Speaker: Mordecai Glatzer, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
(unmanned camera)
6-DVD set $100

2003 Lehmann Workshop on "Early Hebrew Printing"
Speaker: Mordecai Glatzer, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
(unmanned camera)
6-DVD set $100

Order by contacting Chrissy at 215-898-6654 or chwalsh@sas.upenn.edu. Price includes shipping. Speaker handouts are included. Please make checks or money orders out to: Walsh Video.


Christine Walsh
Administrative Coordinator
Jewish Studies Program
711 Williams Hall
255 S. 36th Street
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305
Tel 215-898-6654
Fax 215-573-6026
chwalsh@sas.upenn.edu

Lehmann Memorial Master Workshop in the History of the Jewish Book: Katrin Kogman-Appel

The Twelfth Annual Manfred R. Lehmann Memorial Master Workshop in the History of the Jewish Book
The Jewish Studies Program at the University of Pennsylvania, in conjunction with the University of Pennsylvania Library and the Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, are pleased to announce the twelfth annual Manfred R. Lehmann Memorial Master Workshop to be held on May 20-21, (Sunday-Monday), 2012, at the Katz Center. The topic is Jewish Book Art in the Late Middle Ages. This year's workshop will be led by Dr. Katrin Kogman-Appel, the Evelyn Metz Memorial Research Chair at the Department of the Arts at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel, and one of the world's foremost historians of Jewish art. She has published four major books and numerous articles on virtually every aspect of medieval Jewish art in both Ashkenaz and Sefarad. This spring Harvard University Press will publish her newest book, A Mahzor from Worms: Art and Religion in a Medieval Jewish Community.
The workshop will be devoted to Hebrew illuminated manuscripts of the fourteenth and the fifteenth centuries and to the ways in which current methods in art history and related fields can be fruitfully applied to them. Among the subjects to be treated will be issues of patronage, function, historical context, reception, mediality and visuality, and cultural interaction. Specific sessions will focus on the illustration programs of Ashkenazi Mahzorim; the Sephardic Bible within the framework of Judeo-Arabic culture; the Sephardic Haggadot with particular stress on cultural exchange and patronage; Jewish-Christian collaborations in late medieval manuscript workshops; and strategies employed by Ashkenazi book producers like the fifteenth century scribe-artist Joel ben Simeon to make the haggadah accessible to wide audiences from different social strata. The final session will deal with the persistence of manuscript culture after the invention of the printing press with a discussion of the work of some early modern printers.
No art historical background is expected and some basics of visual analysis will be taught. Iconographic method implies the study of text, and since not all texts to be discussed exist in English translation, participants should be able to read Hebrew.
The workshop is open to professors and independent scholars, professional librarians in the field of Jewish and related studies, and graduate students in Jewish Studies. Attendance at previous workshops is not a prerequisite for admission.
For faculty and professionals, tuition is $250. In addition to attendance and all materials for the workshop, the tuition includes two or three nights in a hotel (double-occupancy) for the nights of May 19 and 20 (with the option of May 19), and all meals and refreshments (all kosher) during the course of the workshop.
Graduate students may apply for a full scholarship to the workshop. To apply for the scholarship, a graduate student should write us giving the details of his or her academic program and a brief statement explaining how the workshop will further his or her academic studies. S/he should also ask a faculty advisor to write us a letter of recommendation on the student's behalf.
Attendance is limited.
If you are interested in attending the workshop, please notify us immediately. Full payment must be received by March 1, 2012. Make checks payable to Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania. A registration form is available at: http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/jwst/registrationLW2012.pdf
Please address all correspondence to:
Please address all correspondence to:
Lehmann Workshop
c/o Jewish Studies Program
711 Williams Hall
255 S. 36th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305
jsp-info@sas.upenn.edu
215-898-6654
The Manfred R. Lehmann Memorial Master Workshop in the History of the Jewish Book has been made possible by a generous contribution from the Manfred and Anne Lehmann Foundation along with grants from Mr. Albert Friedberg, the Lucius N. Littauer Foundation, Andrew H. Cohn, Esq. C'66, and the University of Pennsylvania Research Foundation

Steinschneider volume is now published

Studies on Steinschneider: Moritz Steinschneider and the Emergence of the Science of Judaism in Nineteenth-Century Germany, ed. Reimund Leicht and Gad Freudenthal. Leiden: Brill, 2012.
See here.

Hebrew Manuscripts at Les Enluminures

Les Enluminures, a French gallery and store puts up digitized copies of the manuscripts they have for sale at http://www.textmanuscripts.com/index.php.
They have a small selection of Hebrew manuscripts.

September 22: Open House at George Washington University Library

An introduction to the treasures of
The I. Edward Kiev Judaica Collection
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Kiev Room, Gelman Library
7th floor
Refreshments in the foyer
12:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Reception & hors d’oeuvres
4:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Remarks
by the University Librarian
and the Curator of the Collection
5:00 p.m.

Sep 13: Lecture at the Library of Congress

The Hebraic Section
African and Middle Eastern Division
Library of Congress
presents:
"Rethinking the Canon of Modern Jewish Thought"

A lecture
by

Gershon Greenberg

Professor, Department of Philosophy and Religion
American University, Washington, D.C.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011
12:00-1:00
African & Middle Eastern Division Conference Room
Thomas Jefferson Building, LJ 220
10 First St. S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20540
Metro: Capital South

For information: Sharon Horowitz (202)707-3780 or email: shor@loc.gov
Request ADA accommodations five business days in advance at (202)707-6362 or email: ada@loc.gov

Digital News

Tarbiz and Zion are now available on JSTOR.

The National Library in Jerusalem now has links to most digitized Hebrew manuscripts through their catalog.

Details are available at the Talmud Blog with links (as well as some other information about recent developments in digitized material for rabbinics).

Call for Papers: Session on Manuscripts at International Medieval Congress

Call for Papers: “Outside the Ruling: Signs of Use in Medieval Manuscripts”
International Medieval Congress, Leeds, 9-12 July 2012.

Organizers: Kathryn Rudy, University of St Andrews, and Kathryn Gerry, University of Kansas
Sponsor: St Andrews Institute of Mediaeval Studies

The careful planning and structuring of medieval books offer implied guidelines for how they should be used, but as is made clear by many of the manuscripts themselves, readers were free to follow or ignore such guidelines. This session will include papers on the physical manifestations of use in medieval manuscripts, with an emphasis on the ways medieval readers/viewers interacted with their books. Interaction could include touching, rubbing, kissing, or adding/removing materials from medieval manuscripts, at any stage in the course of their lives; evidence of such interaction might be manifest in the materials of a given manuscript (including leaves, bindings, pigments, inks, gold, etc), or might be reflected in a later copy, description or depiction. Papers might also explore ways in which producers of books (or portions of books) sought to direct, control, hinder, or otherwise mediate the responses of readers/viewers. We seek papers from researchers in art history, history, literature, codicology, conservation, history of religions, and other fields concerned with the history of the medieval book. It is our intention to publish a collection of essays on this subject, and papers accepted in this session will be considered for inclusion in this project.

Papers should be 20 minutes in length, to be delivered in English. Please send an abstract of not more than 250 words and a current CV to both of the organizers: Kathryn Gerry ( kbgerry@gmail.com) and Kathryn Rudy (kmr7@st-andrews.ac.uk); proposals must be received by Friday, 9 September, 2011.

The nineteenth International Medieval Congress will take place at Leeds, UK, 9-12 July, 2012; for more information on the IMC, please visit http://www.leeds.ac.uk/ims/imc/

New Curator at Bodleian and Yarnton Manor

Cesar Merchan Hamann will be the new curator of Hebraica and Judaica in Oxford libraries.

See http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/51220/curator-named-oxford-hebrew-centre for the announcement in the Jewish Chronicle.

Congratulations and best wishes to Piet van Boxel on his retirement.

Doctoral and Post-Doctoral Positions in Germany for Work on the Masora

SFB 933

"Materiale Textkulturen. Materialität und Präsenz des Geschrieben in non-typographischen Gesellschaften" (http://www.materiale-textkulturen.de)


Project B4 (Jewish Studies)
Scholarly Knowledge, Drollery or Esotericism? The Hebrew Bible's Masora in its Various Material Properties

invites applications for two positions, one Post-Doc and One Doctoral stipend to begin Juli 1, 2011:

TVL E 13, 100% (Post-Doc)
und
TVL E 13, 65% (Dissertation Project)


This project deals with the Hebrew Bible's Masoretic Traditions as found in micrographic form in the Hebrew Bible codices from the High Middle Ages (masora figurata) as well as in non-figurative layouts in Hebrew Commentaries and Grammatical treatises.
It will concentrate on the area of text reception in its relationship to materiality and, thereby, focus on the question in which way handwritten artefacts effectively shape the meaning attributed to it through its material presence.

1. Post-Doc position (TVL E 13 100%):
The successful candidate will be working on the editing of the masora figurata in one Hebrew Biblical manuscript (digital edition of the text and its illustrations). In addition, the edition will be accompagnied by an indexing commentary and partial translation.

2. Doctoral stipend (TVL E 13 65%):
The successful candidate will be working on the masorah references found in Biblical commentaries and grammatical treatises as his PhD-project.

The integration of the project into the collaborative research center 933 and as well as into the research network of the Center for Jewish Studies demands regular attendance at Heidelberg. For further information, please contact:


Prof. Dr. phil. habil. Hanna Liss
Hochschule für Jüdische Studien, Landfriedstr. 12, 69117 Heidelberg
Tel: +49-6221-54-192-27 // Fax: +49-6221-54-192-09
email: hanna.liss@hfjs.eu

Applications should be sent only via email (PDF)

New book by Marc Epstein: The Medieval Haggadah

Received via e-mail:

In his new work, The Medieval Haggadah: Art, Narrative and Religious Imagination, (Yale University Press, 2011), Marc Michael Epstein (Professor of Religion at Vassar College) explores four enigmatic, quirky, and interesting illuminated haggadot including the earliest-known surviving illuminated haggadah, the Birds’ Head Haggadah, likely made in Mainz around 1300, in which many of the faces on the human figures depicted throughout the work are replaced with those of birds; the Golden Haggadah, possibly from Barcelona, circa 1320-30, the iconography of which seems so indisputably “formed in the image and likeness” of contemporary manuscripts made for Christians; and two Spanish “siblings,” the Rylands Haggadah and its so-called Brother, made between 1330 and 1340 also possibly in Barcelona, which have historically been paired because of the similarity of their iconography and style.
The Medieval Haggadah is itself a lavishly illustrated book that presents the complete sequence of illustrations in each of the manuscripts discussed in full size and full-color, along with corroborating examples, for a total of 151 full-color illustrations.
Rather than viewing the art in these books as merely illustrating the text or its commentaries, Epstein understands these manuscripts to be visual commentary in and of themselves. He argues that they not only contain "midrashic details," but evince a strong midrashic mindset.
Though the importance of these manuscripts is universally acknowledged, they contain a number of elements which have been little explored. For instance, the Golden Haggadah includes forty-six distinct depictions of women, whose presence has been glossed over as mere "narrative detail," and the faces in the Birds’ Head Haggadah turn out not to belong to birds, strictly speaking, at all, but to composite beings of deep significance in Jewish tradition.
Epstein proposes some startling new solutions to long-unresolved questions concerning the meaning of the art contained within them. But he also engages in analysis of this art as a springboard to addressing broader issues in the study of Jewish thought, visuality, and culture, both material and intellectual.
The Medieval Haggadah: Art, Narrative and Religious Imagination,
Yale University Press, May 09, 2011 344 p., 8 1/2 x 11
151 color illus. ISBN: 9780300156669 Cloth: $65.00



http://tinyurl.com/EpsteinMedHag

Digitization and New Resources

The Bibliography of the Hebrew Book is now available on-line (free access) at the website of the National Library of Israel (formerly Jewish National and University Library). See here

Click here for a link to the digitized Hebrew manuscripts at the Goethe Universität in Frankfurt am Main.

Call for Papers: "From Text(s) to Book(s)"

via SHARP:

CALL FOR PAPERS

An international and SHARP-sponsored conference 'From Text(s) to Book(s)'
21-23 June 2012
Nancy-Université, France

Deadline for proposals: 15 December 2011

I.D.E.A. (‘Théories et pratiques de l’Interdisciplinarité Dans les Etudes Anglophones’ / Interdisciplinarity in English Studies), the research group of the Nancy-Université English Department, will be hosting an international and SHARP-sponsored conference on the subject ‘From Text(s) to Book(s)’. This conference will provide a forum to discuss the ways in which texts are materialised for consumption by the reading public, both historically and in the contemporary context. Papers that adopt a historical approach to this question might discuss book production practices at specific periods or their evolution over time. Papers with a contemporary focus might deal with cases where the materialisation of texts does not necessarily involve production in the codex form, or discuss the impact that technological developments, like advances in digital printing and the emergence of devices such as Amazon’s Kindle Reader or Apple’s iPad, have had on the passage from text to ‘book’. Case studies of individual works and reflections upon fundamental theoretical questions relating to the making and materialisation of texts are equally welcome.

The full call for papers can be found on the web site that has been put in place for the event: http://idea-udl.org/from-texts-to-books/


Confirmed keynote speakers for the conference are Espen Aarseth (Center for Computer Games Research, IT University of Copenhagen), Daniel Ferrer (CNRS, ITEM, France), David Finkelstein (Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, UK) and Claire Parfait (Université Paris 13, France).


Proposals of no more than 300 words, for 25-minute presentations, should be sent to David Ten Eyck and Monica Latham (david.ten-eyck@univ-nancy2.fr, monica.latham@univ-nancy2.fr) before 15 December 2011. Articles based on conference papers will be considered for publication in the Book Practices & Textual Itineraries series published by the Presses Universitaires de Nancy: http://idea-udl.org/book-practices-and-textual-itineraries/


Conference organisers:

Nathalie Collé-Bak, Monica Latham & David Ten Eyck With the support of SHARP (the Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing)

------------------

Call for Papers for "The Future of Holocaust Testimonies"

via H-Judaic:

The Future of Holocaust Testimonies No. 2=20 An International Conference and Workshop
19-22 March 2012, Akko, Israel

Call for Papers=20

Statement of Purpose

The Holocaust Studies Program of Western Galilee College and the = USC Shoah Foundation Institute announce a second international = interdisciplinary conference and workshop on The Future of Holocaust = Testimonies to be held on 19-21 March 2012.

Rationale

Holocaust survivors and their testimonies have been, for many = years, key factors in Holocaust memorial culture. As survivors pass = away, critical focus will inevitably move to the legacy they leave =
behind: especially in the forms of written, audio and video testimonies. = Scholarly work on survivor testimony emerges from the full spectrum of = university disciplines including history, literary analysis, = linguistics, cultural criticism, psychology, neuroscience, sociology, = etc. The rich and varied and corpus of testimonies requires the = collaborative effort of researchers across disciplines to enable us to = hear the voices of survivors articulated through their testimonies.=20

The first Future of Holocaust Testimonies Conference was held on = January 2010. It brought together scholars from eight countries who = presented new approaches to studying and working with testimonies. The = upcoming Future of Holocaust testimonies no 2 conference will add = another layer to this endeavor.=20

The Conference

In order for the conference to make an impact on Holocaust research and = benefit the public discourse as well, one day will be open to the = public, while two days will be for researchers only.=20

The conference will be conducted in English. The open public day will be = conducted in English and Hebrew with simultaneous translation.
Speakers will be accorded full hospitality.=20

We welcome proposals for papers that address the conference theme, = including, but not limited to, the following topics:
=B7 Methodological issues
=B7 Oral testimonies, memoirs, life stories, diaries=20
=B7 Video testimonies
=B7 Early and late testimonies
=B7 Different approaches to testimony analysis
=B7 Place of testimonies in Holocaust research
=B7 Historical value of testimonies
=B7 Testimonies reflecting culture and identity issues
=B7 Age and gender issues
=B7 Authenticity, verification and false memories=20

Please send a one page proposal and a CV to: TestimonyConf@wgalil.ac.il =

(Doctoral candidates please add a letter of recommendation from your =
advisor)=20
Deadline: September 5 2011

October 31, 2011: Judaica Europeana Digital Humanities Workshop

via H-Judaic:

Digital Humanities and the Study of Jewish History and Culture A day of workshops at the British Library exploring new research = opportunities created by Judaica Europeana. London, 31 October 2011

Judaica Europeana www.judaica-europeana.eu is making available online a = vast archive of books, documents, visual and audio material related to = Jewish history and culture. The increased availability of digitized = primary sources is paving the way to a radical change in research, = teaching and publishing. This goes in tandem with the development of = tools that support scholars in their work of discovering, annotating, = comparing, referring and illustrating. This day of workshops will = provide an opportunity to introduce new resources and tools that are = becoming a standard part of the toolbox of historians and other = scholars. The workshops at the British Library will be of particular = interest to scholars and post-graduate students in Jewish studies and = European history.
=20
Please make a note in your diary. Programme and registration available = from September 2011 on www.judaica-europeana.eu from. Email: =
contact.judaica.europeana@gmail.com=20

Kestenbaum auction

Via e-mail:


Kestenbaum & Company's spring auction of Fine Judaica will be held on Thursday, June 23rd at 3:00 pm. The sale will take place at the company's gallery at 242 West 30th Street in New York City with viewing beforehand from June 19th through June 22nd.

Highlighting this auction will be Part II of the historic Cassuto Collection of Iberian-related Books and Manuscripts. This extensive sale also features many fine early printed books from the Delmonico Collection, a celebrated library of fine Hebrew books formed by the late New York-based collector, William Roth. The sale also includes books recently de-accessioned from a European institutional library.


For further information relating to bidding or any other queries, please contact:
Daniel Kestenbaum
Tel: 212-366-1197
Kestenbook@aol.com

Forthcoming Book

The Hebrew Book in Early Modern Italy
edited by Joseph R. Hacker and Adam Shear
University of Pennsylvania Press, scheduled for publication Fall 2011

http://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/14918.html

New book: Treasures of the Valmadonna Trust Library

Flyer received via e-mail:

TREASURES OF THE VALMADONNA TRUST LIBRARY

A NEW PUBLICATION OF THE VALMADONNA TRUST

SPRING 2011
Treasures of the Valmadonna Trust Library provides a complete checklist of the Trust’s nearly 250 incunables and deluxe Hebrew books printed on vellum and coloured paper, the first published record of Valmadonna holdings in these most prized areas of Hebrew printing. The volume also includes original bibliographic studies by Isaac Yudlov of the National Library of Israel, Jerusalem, Dr A. K. Offenberg of the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana, Amsterdam, and Brad Sabin Hill of the I. Edward Kiev Judaica Collection at George Washington University, Washington, DC.

The catalogue and studies are accompanied by over 60 colour plates, detailed indexes, and a bibliography of specialist literature on early and deluxe Hebrew books.

Treasures of the Valmadonna Trust Library: A Catalogue of 15th-Century Books and Five Centuries of
Deluxe Hebrew Printing.
Edited by David Sclar.
Hardcover, 168 p., illustrated.
$ 60.00 (US)

For information, write to the Librarian at
Valmadonna Trust Library
Fairport, 7 Turner Drive
London NW 11 (U.K)
custodian.valmadonna@idcholdings.com

PUBLICATIONS OF THE VALMADONNA TRUST LIBRARY

Two Prague Haggadahs. Facsimile of the 1556 edition on vellum and the 1590-1606 [?] edition on paper. Introduction by C. Abramsky. 1978.

Grace After Meals (Birhat Ha’Mazon). Facsimile of the 1514 Prague edition. Introductions by C. Abramsky and B. Nosek. 1984
The Pesahim Codex (Babylonian Talmud). Facsimile of the Provence c.1447 manuscript. Palaeographic description by M. Beit-Arié; introduction by E. S. Rosenthal. 1984.

The only dated medieval Hebrew manuscript written in England (1189 CE) and the problem of pre-expulsion Anglo-Hebrew manuscripts. By M. Beit-Arié; appendices by M. Banitt and Z. Entin Rokéah. 1985.

Seder keriat shema al hamitah: Matteo Zanetti and Comino Presigno, Venice 1593. 1986.

Hebraica (saec. X ad saec. XVI): Manuscripts and early printed books from the Library of the Valmadonna Trust. An Exhibition at the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York. By B. S. Hill. 1989.

The Alphabet of Ben Sira. Facsimile of the Constantinople 1519 edition. Intros by J. Hacker and A. M. Haberman; foreword by J. Dan. 1997

The Hebrew Manuscripts in the Valmadonna Trust Library. Edited by B. Richler. 1998.

Birkat Ha-Mazon (Grace After Meals). Facsimile of the N. Italy, ca. 1476 edition. 2004.

THE VALMADONNA TRUST LIBRARY, based in London, is the most valuable private collection of early, rare and deluxe Hebrew printing in the world.

Among the greatest treasures of the Library are the incunables, books produced in the 15th century, just after Gutenberg’s invention of movable type. The Trust holds over 70 volumes - or excessively rare fragments - printed in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Ottoman Turkey before 1500. Among these are some of the very first Hebrew books; books printed by the fabled Soncino family in their native town; and leaves of the Arba‘ah Turim printed by Iberian refugees at Istanbul in 1493, the first book in any language printed in the Islamic world.

The earliest printers issued special copies of their books on vellum (parchment), a convention of fine printing maintained by their successors over the centuries. The Trust holds some 27 Hebrew books printed on vellum from the 15th and 16th centuries, the oldest from before the expulsions of Spanish and Portuguese Jewry, more than 20 volumes from Italy, and others from Ottoman Greece and Turkey, Bohemia, the German lands and Holland. Some of them are the only deluxe copy of the book in existence.

Following the lead of Renaissance master-printer Aldus, the Christian publisher Bomberg produced deluxe Hebrew books on blue paper early in the 16th century. From Venice the elegant vogue spread to other presses in northern Italy. The Trust holds the world’s largest collection of deluxe Hebrew printing on coloured papers, especially of the 16th century, including the first edition of the Zohar on blue (Mantua, 1558).

The collection holds books on coloured paper, or in red ink, from the bibliophilic revival in Amsterdam and Central Europe in the late 17th and 18th centuries, as well as fine exempla of books on blue or ‘bluish’ paper from Eastern Europe in the early 19th century, and books and serials on coloured paper issued later in India and Baghdad.

In the annals of Hebrew booklore only one other collector - Rabbi David Oppenheim of Prague (1664-1736), whose library is preserved at Oxford - was known to cultivate this specialty of deluxe Hebrew printing. Among the Valmadonna copies on vellum and coloured paper are rare and unique liturgies of diverse European and oriental rites, editions of the Passover Haggadah, and ‘occasional poetry’ for weddings and in honour of royalty.

Article on Orphan Books and Digitization

Not sure the headline matches the article content (not digitizing is not exactly the same as "locking away" the material, in the humble opinion of your blog manager), but here is an article from the Chronicle of Higher Education:

http://chronicle.com/article/Out-of-Fear-Institutions-Lock/127701/

Baranovich Auction

Received an announcement of an upcoming auction via e-mail:

Wednesday, June 22, 2011 at Congregation Gvul Yaabetz in Brooklyn, NY.
Digital version of our upcoming auction catalog.
at http://www.baranovich.org/details_auction20.htm
Baranovich Auction Staff
Tel: +1-718-578-4150
www.baranovich.org

EAJS Colloquium in Oxford: Books within Books

Program here.

Endowment for Jewish Studies at the University of Toronto

One of North America's greatest research universities (with a long history of study in the history of the book) announces major fundraising campaign for Jewish Studies:


Click here for the Canadian Jewish News article

Washington Haggadah Lectures

David Stern and Katrin Kogman-Appel speak about The Washington Haggadah at the Met:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiffdGBnZ0c (David Stern)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOVilqbEVw&feature=related
(Katrin Kogman-Appel)

Hebrew manuscripts at British Library

Hebrew illuminated manuscripts at British Library are being digitized.

See here.

Price Library of Judaica

Over the digital transom:

"Discover the University of Florida Price Library of Judaica’s hidden treasures

Established in 1981, the Isser and Rae Price Library of Judaica at the University of Florida has grown to be one of America’s important repositories of research materials for scholars of Jewish history and culture. After 30 years of inspired curatorship and tireless collecting of scarce and unique materials, the Price Library of Judaica is now ready to seek increased exposure of its hidden treasures.

Originally built around the collection of Rabbi Mishkin, the largest personal library of Judaica and Hebraica in the United States at the time, the Price Library has over time developed several notable areas of strength.

The Price Library’s collection of late 19th and early 20th century scarce imprints stands out as does its collection of ephemeral materials, including pamphlets, brochures and newsletters not held elsewhere. Scholars of Latin American Jewish history and culture will find in the Price Library a wide range of books and periodicals in Yiddish and Spanish.

The Price Library of Judaica is especially placed to support scholarship on the Holocaust and its aftermath. Its collection of Yizkor (memorial) books commemorating the lost Jewish communities of Europe is among the ten largest in the United States Moreover, the Price library is one of a few American libraries that can provide access to key primary materials about the latter stages of the Holocaust and the Nazi cultural plunder of Europe.

Another major strength of the Price Library is its unique collection of materials pertaining to Florida Jewry alongside local and state Jewish newspapers. Under the leadership of Dr. Rebecca Jefferson, the new Head of the Isser and Rae Price Library of Judaica, the collection will continue to grow and develop major resources in American Jewish Studies, with a focus on Southern Jewish history and culture.

“It is certain that the history of Florida Jewry, the third largest Jewish community in the country, will excite great scholarly interest in the future. The Price Library of Judaica intends to ensure that it provides the resources for this future pioneering research,” said Jefferson

Making the unique holdings of the collection widely available in digital format is one of the major strategic priorities for Price Library and Jefferson is actively seeking partnerships with other Florida institutions to preserve and digitize Florida Jewish newspapers.

For more information on the collection please visit the library website at http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/judaica/ or contact Rebecca Jefferson at rjefferson@ufl.edu or (352) 273-2650.


Barbara Hood
Public Information Officer
University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries
PO Box 117000
Gainesville FL 32611-7000"
352.273.2505 | Fax 352.392.7251

April 3: The Jewish Book: Past, Present, Future

The Jewish Book:
Past, Present, Future
The Lillian Goldman Symposium
Sunday, April 3, 1–5:30 p.m.

What makes a Jewish book?
Who are the People of the Book?
How have Jewish books changed with changes in technology?

The “history of the book” is a lively field of historical scholarship that looks at authorship, publication, and dissemination of texts of all kinds as windows onto culture and society in different periods and places. Book history also plumbs the relationships between writers, scribes, printers, and readers. Join us as an international group of scholars examine the contours of Jewish identity through the study of texts in Hebrew and other Jewish languages, and of the Jews and non-Jews who produced and consumed them.
PROGRAM

What was a Jewish Book? Perspectives from Three Periods in History
moderator
Adam Shear | University of Pittsburgh
panelists
Katrin Kogman-Appel | Ben-Gurion University
Menahem Schmelzer | Jewish Theological Seminary
Gennady Estraikh | New York University

Texts and Cultures: Three Case Studies
moderator
Marjorie Lehman | Jewish Theological Seminary
panelists
David Stern | University of Pennsylvania
Elisheva Carlebach | Columbia University
Jeremy Stolow | Concordia University

The Future of the Jewish Book
moderator
Jonathan Karp | American Jewish Historical Society
panelists
Jeffrey Shandler | Rutgers University
Alana Newhouse | Tablet Magazine
Eliyahu Stern | Yale University

The program will be followed by a wine and
cheese reception and viewing of the exhibition
Zero to Ten: First Decades/New Centuries: Highlights
from the Collections at the Center for Jewish History

Your ticket includes free admission to the Yeshiva University Museum galleries and the exhibition Zero to Ten: First Decades/New Centuries: Highlights from the Collections at the Center for Jewish History. Visit zeroto10.cjh.org for details. Galleries open at 11:00 a.m.


Forchheimer Auditorium/
Kumble Stage
Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street, NYC

admission
$20 general; $15 CJH, partner and
Association for Jewish Studies members;
$8 students and seniors
For reservations, please call
SmartTix at 212.868.4444 or visit www.smarttix.com

www.programs.cjh.org

This program is made possible by the generous support of Amy P. Goldman and the Lillian Goldman Charitable Trust and presented by the Lillian Goldman Scholars Working Group on the Jewish Book

In collaboration with the Jewish Book Council, the Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at New York University and the Columbia University Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies

April 11: Academic Seminar at Center for Jewish History

A DECADE OF CULTURE, SCHOLARSHIP AND IDEAS

Upcoming Graduate Seminar
at the Center
Monday, April 11, 4:45pm



The Library that Never Was:
The Attempt to Build a Center for Jewish Books and Learning in Post-Holocaust Europe

Graduate Seminar Miriam Intrator, Lillian Goldman Fellow, PhD candidate at Graduate Center, City University of New York. Natalia Aleksiun, Associate Professor of Modern Jewish History, Touro College, responding. Dr. Nancy Sinkoff, Professor of History and Jewish Studies, Rutgers University, presiding.

Intended for an academic audience; space is limited.

Admission: Free, RSVP to jkaplan@cjh.org or 917-606-8226.

All coats and bags must be checked. Please plan accordingly.

Center for Jewish History Programs | www.programs.cjh.org





Center for Jewish History | www.cjh.org
15 West 16th Street
New York, New York 10011

The Washington Haggadah at the Met

See here for information and related events:

http://broadwayworld.com/article/Rare_Medieval_Hebrew_Manuscript_on_View_At_The_MET_Begins_45_20110318

Washington Haggadah: new edition and event

Click on image to enlarge.

MANFRED R. LEHMANN MEMORIAL MASTER WORKSHOP

ANNOUNCEMENT



THE MANFRED R. LEHMANN MEMORIAL MASTER WORKSHOP IN

THE HISTORY OF THE JEWISH BOOK


The Jewish Studies Program at the University of Pennsylvania, in conjunction with the University of Pennsylvania Library and the Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, are pleased to announce the eleventh annual Manfred R. Lehmann Memorial Master Workshop to be held on May 8-9, (Sunday-Monday), 2011, at the Katz Center. The topic is Collectors and Collections: Hebrew Manuscripts and Incunabula in Russia. This year’s workshop will be led by Dr. Shimon Iakerson, the Head Researcher at the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Curator of the Judaica collections of the Russian Museum of Ethnography. One of the world’s leading experts on Hebrew incunabula, Professor Iakerson is the author of many books including Ohel Hayim Vol. 3 (Incunabula and Sixteenth Century Books in the Manfred and Ann Lehmann Collection) and the monumental Catalogue of Hebrew Incunabula from the Collection of the Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.

About 22 thousand Hebrew manuscripts and more than 100 Hebrew incunabula are preserved in the libraries and research centers of Russia. Until recently these volumes were largely unavailable to Western scholars. Since the opening of these collections some twenty years ago, they have revolutionized many fields in Jewish Studies. This year’s Lehmann Workshop will deal with the histories of these collections, the stories of the collectors and bibliographers who built them, and the importance of these books for the history of Jewish culture. Other topics to be treated will include the nature of the earliest Hebrew codices; Karaite manuscripts and communities; forgery; and the importance of the Russian incunabula for understanding the beginnings of Jewish printing. Since the workshop will concentrate upon reading colophons, dedications and owners’ notes, knowledge of Hebrew is highly desirable.

The workshop is open to professors and independent scholars, professional librarians in the field of Jewish and related studies, and graduate students in Jewish Studies. Attendance at previous workshops is not a prerequisite for admission.

For faculty and professionals, tuition is $250. In addition to attendance and all materials for the workshop, the tuition includes two or three nights in a hotel (double-occupancy) for the nights of May 7 and 8 (with the option of May 6), and all meals and refreshments (all kosher) during the course of the workshop.
Graduate students may apply for a full scholarship to the workshop. To apply for the scholarship, a graduate student should write us giving the details of his or her academic program and a brief statement explaining how the workshop will further his or her academic studies. S/he should also ask a faculty advisor to write us a letter of recommendation on the student's behalf.

Attendance is limited. If you are interested in attending the workshop, please notify us immediately. Full payment must be received by March 1, 2011. Make checks payable to “Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania.” A registration form is available at: http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/jwst/registrationLW2011.pdf

Please address all correspondence to:
Lehmann Workshop
c/o Jewish Studies Program
711 Williams Hall
255 S. 36th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305
jsp-info@sas.upenn.edu
215-898-6654

The Manfred R. Lehmann Memorial Master Workshop in the History of the Jewish Book has been made possible by a generous contribution from the Manfred and Anne Lehmann Foundation along with grants from Mr. Albert Friedberg, the Lucius N. Littauer Foundation, Andrew H. Cohn, Esq. C'66, and the University of Pennsylvania Research Foundation.

March 15: Lecture: Library of Congress "The Education of Jewish Girls in Tsarist Russia"

IN CELEBRATION OF WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH 2011
PLEASE JOIN

THE HEBRAIC SECTION
AFRICAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN DIVISION
AND THE EUROPEAN DIVISION
THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

FOR A PRESENTATION
BY
ELIYANA R. ADLER

IN HER HANDS
The Education of Jewish Girls in Tsarist Russia


Tuesday March 15, 2011
12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
African & Middle Eastern Division Reading Room
Thomas Jefferson Building, LJ 220
10 First St. S.E.
Washington D.C. 20540

For Additional Information:
Sharon Horowitz (202) 707- 3780 or shor@loc.gov
Request ADA accommodations five business days in advance at (202) 707-6362
(Voice/TTY) or email ada@loc.gov

"Writing and Identity in the Jewish Tradition": Rome, March 27

In occasione dell’Hachnasat Sèfer Torah
(cerimonia inaugurale per l’ingresso in Tempio di un Sèfer Torah) Scrittura e identità nella tradizione ebraica
Il Dipartimento Educazione e Cultura dell’Unione delle Comunità Ebraiche Italiane
e la Comunità Ebraica di Padova organizzano
Domenica 27 Marzo 2011 - 21 Adar Shenì 5771
Sala Ex Sinagoga tedesca - Ghetto, via delle Piazze 26 - Padova
design: dh@Daniela Haggiag.com
ore 14.45 - Saluti
Davide Romanin Jacur - Presidente Comunità ebraica di Padova
ore 15.00
Introduce e modera: Roberto Della Rocca - Direttore Dec-Ucei
Amedeo Spagnoletto - Sofer e docente CRI
Riccardo Calimani - Presidente della Fondazione MEIS
Donatella Di Cesare - Docente di Filosofia, Università “La Sapienza”
Adolfo Locci - Rabbino Capo di Padova
Rony Klopstok - Rabbino Yeshivat haKotel
ore 17.45
Hachnasat Sèfer Torah
Seguirà aperitivo
Sala del Consiglio della Comunità - via San Martino e Solferino, 9
Info: Comunità Ebraica di Padova / tel. 049 8751106 / mail: cebra.pd@tin.it
Comunità Ebraica diPadova

Jewish Book Week in London

Program here: http://www.jewishbookweek.com/2011/programme.php

Upcomiong Kesternbaum Auction Information

Iberian-Judaica from
the Distinguished Collection
of the Late Alfonso Cassuto
Highlights Kestenbaum & Company's
Auction of Fine Judaica
Thursday, February 24th, 2011

Iberian-Judaica | Incunabula | Chassidism | Passover Hagadoth | Autograph Letters Manuscripts | Graphic Art | Ceremonial Art | Exhibition Dates
For further details of any of the items mentioned click on the relevant lot numbers.
(Note: If links are not working please use HTML version by clicking link at very top of this e-mail)

Kestenbaum & Company's sale of Fine Judaica to be held on Thursday, February 24th at 3:00pm will mark the company's Fiftieth Auction since its establishment in 1996. With an exclusive commitment to the field of Fine Judaica, Kestenbaum has over the past fifteen years offered some 17,000 lots comprising an immense quantity of Judaic properties. Highlighting this Jubilee auction, will be the historic Cassuto Collection of Iberian-related Books and Manuscripts, alongside which, this extensive sale will feature Rare Hebrew Printed Books, Manuscripts, Autograph Letters, Graphic & Ceremonial Art.
The foundation of the Alfonso Cassuto Collection was laid by Mr. Cassuto's great-grandfather Jehuda de Mordehai Cassuto who in 1835 acquired a sizeable library assembled in the 17th century by the Namias Family of Hamburg. Subsequent generations of the family greatly expanded the library and Alfonso in particular immersed himself enthusiastically in the books and the library's further development. The present collection was consigned to Kestenbaum & Company by Alfonso's son, the distinguished composer and conductor Álvaro Leon Cassuto, Artistic Director of the Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra.

Click Here to View the Entire Auction Catalogue

For further information relating to bidding or any other queries, please contact:
Daniel Kestenbaum
Tel: 212-366-1197
Kestenbook@aol.com

Subjects
Iberian-Judaica

Incunabula

Chassidism

Passover Hagadoth

Autograph Letters

Manuscripts

Graphic Art

Ceremonial Art

Exhibition Dates

QUICK LINKS
Visit Our Website
View Auction Catalogue
Contact us



Iberian-Judaica

The Collection of Iberian-Judaica in this auction features theological, historical and liturgical texts, as well as books and manuscripts relating to the Inquisition, literature, science and medicine. Important lots within the collection include a handsome manuscript by Isaac Orobio de Castro, Prevenciones Divinas contra la vana ydolatria de las gentes, Amsterdam, circa 1700, estimate $25,000-30,000 (lot 332) and three highly significant works bound in one volume by the celebrated mathematician and cartographer, Pedro Nunes, including his De Arte Atque Ratione Navigandi, 1573, at an estimate of $20,000-25,000 (lot 331). Further highlights include Isaac da Fonseca Aboab's Parafrasis Comentado Sobre el Pentateuco with the rare frontispiece portrait, Amsterdam, 1681, estimate $5,000-7,000 (lot 264); Flor de Apolo, a sumptuous edition of collected poetry by one of the most celebrated 17th century Marrano poets, Miguel de Barrios, Brussels, 1665, estimate $6,000-8,000 (lot 280); Joseph Penso de la Vega's Rumbos Peligrosos, Antwerp, 1683, estimate $4,000-6,000 (lot 286) and Luis de Granada's Introduction del Symbolo de la Fe, Salamanca, 1584-85, estimate $4,000-6,000 (lot 290). Also featured are medical texts by noted Marrano physicians such as Elijah Montalto (lot 322 ), Amatus Lusitanus (lot 317) and Rodrigo de Castro (lot 320).
Elsewhere in the 420-plus lot auction is a broad range of categories including Incunabula, Liturgy, Chassidic and Kabbalistic texts, Bibles, Passover Hagadahs, American and Anglo Judaic imprints, Anti-Semitic and Holocaust-related materials. Illustrated Books in the auction feature works by Max Liebermann, El Lissitzky, Reuven Rubin and Issachar Ber Ryback. Other sections include a significant collection of Autograph Letters, Graphic Art, a single-owner collection of Fine Photography and Ceremonial Art.
Incunabula

Incunabula in the auction include Joseph Albo's classic text of Jewish philosophy-Sepher Ha'Ikarim, Soncino, 1485, estimate $25,000-35,000 (lot 7); a wide-margined copy of David ben Joseph Abudraham's commentary to the prayers, the second book printed in Lisbon, 1489, estimate $20,000-30,000 (lot 265) and Alphonso de Spina's Fortalitium Fidei, Nürnberg, 1485, estimate $ 6,000-9,000 (lot 340). An important post-incunable is a crisp set of Daniel Bomberg's Biblia Rabbinica, presented here in four volumes in a fine, uniform contemporary binding, Venice, 1524-5, at an estimate of $50,000-70,000 (lot 53).
Chassidism

Among the Chassidic Books, the rarest is undoubtedly an extraordinarily fine copy of Schneur Zalman of Liadi's Sepher Likutei Amarim, the fundamental exposition of Chabad Chassidic philosophy, Slavuta, 1796, at a pre-auction estimate of $100,000-120,000 (lot 71). Other notable Chassidic texts in the sale include a scarce copy of Schneur Zalman of Liadi's first edition of the Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim), Kopyst, 1816, estimate $8,000-10,000 (lot 74) and the first anthology of the teachings of the Ba'al Shem Tov, Kether Shem Tov, two parts bound in one, Zolkiew, 1794, at an estimate of $7,000-10,000 (lot 70).
Passover Hagadoth

A sizeable selection of Passover Hagadahs includes many fine examples such as Arthur Szyk's opulently illlustrated Hagadah printed entirely on vellum (one of 125 numbered copies), London 1939-40, estimate $30,000-40,000 (lot 132); a beautifully designed Hagadah by Albert Daniel Rutherston rarely seen at auction (one of 100 copies printed on handmade paper), London, 1930, estimate $7,000-9,000 (lot 131); a copy of the celebrated Amsterdam Hagadah, 1695, estimate $4,000-6,000 (lot 123) and a deluxe, large-paper-copy of Jakob Steinhardt's artistic Hagadah, Berlin, 1921, at an estimate of $3,000-5,000 (lot 129).

Autograph Letters

The Autograph Letters section of the sale boasts an impressive selection of written correspondences by prominent Rabbinic thinkers and Chassidic leaders. Included are letters by the Chofetz Chaim and members of the Halberstam Family. Also on offer is correspondence from the Schneerson Family including letters written from Latvia in 1927 shortly after the family's expulsion from the Soviet Union. Far and away, the most prominent lot to be auctioned in this section is an immensely rare autograph letter written by the paramount Chassidic leader, Reb Nosson of Breslov. The letter was written by Reb Nosson in 1842 to a close disciple, Reb Meir Mirkis of Teplik, who was ailing at the time, and the missive has remained with the Mirkis family for nearly two centuries. This letter is of singular importance as it contains, at its heart, one of the central philosophies of Breslov Chassiduth: "Joy is the remedy for all sicknesses." The pre-auction estimate is $40,000-60,000 (lot 237). Another star lot in this section is a group of childhood photographs and autograph letters written by Oskar Schindler, the renowned rescuer of Holocaust-era Jews. The letters were written to Schindler's first cousin Emily Tyrolt. The pre-sale estimate is $5,000-7,000 (lot 245).

Manuscripts

Highlights among the manuscripts include an important autographed pedagogic work by Yitzchak Aryeh Zekel Leib Wormser, the Ba'al Shem of Michelstadt (1768-1847), estimate $15,000-20,000 (lot 255); a bizarre and rather fascinating Kabbalistic manuscript of folk remedies, Eastern Europe, 18th century, estimate $1,000-1,500 (lot 257) and a rare illuminated Marriage Contract from the ancient community of Mountain Jews in the region of Azerbaijan, 1867, estimate $1,500-2,500 (lot 353).

Graphic Art

The Graphic Art section features paintings by Artur Markowicz, Saul Raskin and Otto Eichinger among others. Of particular interest is a Hebrew Map of the World by Benedictus Arias Montanus, Antwerp, 1571, at an estimate of $700-1,000 (lot 354). A single-owner consignment of Fine Photography notably includes the works of Roman Vishniac (lots 371-373).

Ceremonial Art

The sale concludes with an attractive selection of Ceremonial Art. Fine examples include a 17th century Italian Bronze Chanukah Lamp, estimate $15,000-18,000 (lot 380), a pair of Continental silver and silver filigree Torah Finials, circa 1800, estimate $5,000-7,000 (lot 399) and an exceptional Italian embroidered Synagogue textile, dated 1698, at an estimate of $5,000-7,000 (lot 397). Also noteworthy is a varied collection of materials from the Bezalel School of Art (Lots 405-22).





This Jubilee Auction is particularly exciting and we look forward to welcoming a broad range of new clients likely to be drawn to the attractions found in the celebrated Cassuto Collection.

Click Here to View the Entire Auction Catalogue

Visit Our Website

Pre-Auction Exhibition:
Sunday, 20th February - 12:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Monday, 21st February - 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Tuesday, 22nd February - 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Wednesday 23rd February - 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
No viewing on day of sale

Kestenbaum and Company
242 West 30th Street, 12th Floor
New York, NY 10001
Tel: (212) 366-1197
Fax: (212) 366-1368
E-mail: Kestenbook@aol.com
www.Kestenbaum.net

March 3: Van Leer Event on "Kabbalistic Manuscripts and Textual Theory"

Click on picture to expand it.

Call for Papers; "Authorship in the History of Jewish Textual Culture"

(from H-Judaic)


From: Amit Assis [mailto:amit@assis.co.il]
Sent: Tue 2/1/2011 8:09 AM
Subject: Re: CFP - Authorship in the History of Jewish Textual Culture

CFP - Authorship in the History of Jewish Textual Culture

We hereby call for papers on the subject of authorship in Jewish and Hebrew
textual cultures, for a volume of studies published by the Sapir Forum for
the Discussion and Research of Culture. The purpose of the volume is to go
beyond the issue of the identity of the real author and move towards a
meta-cultural discussion of the transformation of the conception of the
author and its implementations in various Jewish cultures throughout the
ages. Beyond an examination of the formal characteristics of the text, we
expect the issue of authorship to raise other, in-depth questions related to
the various Jewish texts and cultures such as:

- Is the author perceived as the creator of the text? And if not - who is
perceived as its author?
- How is the presence of the narrator expressed in the text? What is the
role of the addressee in the creation of the text?
- Does the text have one author or many? What is the relationship between
the various partners creating the text?
- What is the status of 'the source of inspiration', the editor, the
compiler, the copier, the translator and the like, who stand behind the
text?
- How does authorship relate to the technological, social and
institutional practices of a text's composition, transition and reception?
- What is the role of the author in creating the normative status of the
text?
- What is the relationship between the actual author and the fictitious
one (in pseudo-epigraphy, for example)?
- How is the author a model for the national subject (individual or
collective)?
- What are the relations between the human author of the text and the
divine "Author" (prophecy, incarnation, inspiration)?
- How is the function of the author related to non-textual cultural
functions?
- What is the theological, political, ideological, etc. significance of
the manner of appearance of the author in the given field of discourse?

The papers can address these questions or similar ones, while dealing
with a relatively large segment of the Jewish and Hebrew textual culture
such as: the Bible, *Midrash*, Gaonic literature, renaissance poetry, and
so on, or they can refer to a narrower definition such as: *Rabbi
Ishmael's Mekhilta*, the *Tikkunei Zohar*, the political journalism in "*
Ha'Shiloah*", etc. Papers may be written in Hebrew or English. Papers
that will be chosen by the editorial board will undergo a professional
reading by a reviewer from the paper's field, and they will be translated so
that the volume will appear in both languages. The papers, which will not be
longer than 9000 words, must include a textual reading alongside fundamental
conclusions as to the historical, theoretical, literary, ideological, or
theological aspects. These can refer to the formal aspects of the presence
of the narrator in the text as well as to more fundamental questions such as
the manner in which the perception of the author in the text reflects
broader basic conceptions related to the function of "the Author" and the
institute of authorship in the given historical period and culture.

Please send a proposal no longer than 600 words, detailing the subject of
the paper, the fields of research from which it is written, its hypotheses,
as well as an initial bibliography, no later than May 1st, 2011. The
papers should be ready no later than January 1st, 2012.
Itamar Brenner itamar.brenner@gmail.com
Amit Assis amit@assis.co.il