The History of the Jewish Book in the Islamicate World
Final Report Abstract
The "Jewish Book Culture in the Islamicate World" project explores Jewish book culture from the ninth to the thirteenth centuries, focusing on book creation, trade, private book collecting, public libraries, and the work of Jewish scribes in the Islamicate world. A significant portion of the documents used in this study comes from the Cairo Genizah, while others are inscribed in the books themselves, providing information about when, where, and by whom they were created, owned, or traded. This comprehensive research has resulted in several key outcomes: 1. Individual Publications: Project members have produced publications focusing on various aspects of the grant's theme, shedding light on the history of Jewish book culture in the Islamicate world. 2. Handbook of Jewish Book Culture in the Islamicate World: Currently in preparation, this collective publication is an alphabetic and encyclopedic volume of detailed studies on book -making techniques, script styles, materials, and significant manuscripts. It will also cover textual history and manuscript transmis sion of major works of Judaism. This handbook, scheduled for open -source digital publication in 2024 -2025, aims to be a comprehensive resource for researchers and enthusiasts. 3. Online Databases: • Jewish Book Culture in the Islamicate World: This database provides access to images, editions, and descriptions of the project’s collected documents, allowing researchers to explore Jewish book culture in-depth. • HebrewPal (Digital Album of Hebrew Palaeography): This database serves as a guide to medieval Hebrew scripts. It contains high-resolution images of manuscripts, documents, and epigraphic inscriptions, along with detailed palaeographical annotations based on hundreds of features defined by the project. HebrewPal, designed for Hebrew scripts from the Muslim world, has expanded to cover manuscripts from across the medieval Jewish diaspora. It is a fully searchable and open-access resource.
Publications
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A New Book List from the Firkovich Collection (blog post)
Ioppolo, F. & Schwarb, G.
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Book Lists (Handbook on the History of the Jewish Book in the Islamicate World)
Vollandt R.
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Guenzburg Collection (Handbook on the History of the Jewish Book in the Islamicate World)
Ioppolo F.
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Handbook on the History of the Jewish Book in the Islamicate World
Vollandt R., Ioppolo F., O'Hara J., Buas A., Cohen Z., Vollandt R. & Olszowy-Schlanger J.
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Palimpsests (Handbook on the History of the Jewish Book in the Islamicate World)
Vollandt R.
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Geniza Book Lists as Indirect Sources of Medieval Jewish Book History in the Near East. Interconnected Traditions: Semitic Languages, Literatures, Cultures—A Festschrift for Geoffrey Khan, 177-216. Open Book Publishers.
Vollandt, Ronny
