Three weeks ago, Yeshayahu Vinograd, director of the Institute for Computerized Bibliography in Jerusalem, came for a short visit to New York. He brought with him his eagerly awaited Thesaurus of the Hebrew Book fOtzar HaSefer Halvri) The work lists and describes 32,000 Hebrew books, printed throughout the world from the beginning of Hebrew printing up to 1863.
The most popular Hebrew bibliographies in use nowadays are Isaac Benjacob’s Otzar HaSefarim and Hayyim Dov Friedberg’s Beth Eked Sefarim. Otzar HaSefarim was first published in Vilna in I880, 13 years after the death of its author. It lists manuscripts and books published up to 1863 Beth Eked Sefarim first appeared in 1928-1931. An expanded edition (of four vols.), printed in Tel-Aviv in the 1950’s, lists books published up to 1950. Though these works are extremely useful, the need has long been felt for a new comprehensive bibliography which would include the many, many tomes as well as editions, which neither Benjacob nor Friedberg had seen or found in catalogs or other written sources they had used.
The appearance of Vinograd’s monumental Otzar HaSefer Halvri, which fills this desideratum, is a major event in the Jewish book world.
The scion of a well-known rabbinic family, Vinograd was born in Jerusalem. He has been a bibliophile and collector since his youth (specializing in Haggadoth and books by the Gaon of Vilna) and was, for a period of time, associated with a firm which engaged in the reproduction of old Hebrew books. As the director of the Institute for Computerized Bibliography he has been in charge of producing various book catalogs, has published a bibliographical bulletin and has edited, with Valia Trionfo, Rare Hebrew Books (a listing of books that were auctioned publicly between 1976-1987, and which included estimates and prices).
Vinograd worked 20 years on his Otzar, devoting all his spare time to it. He gathered his material from hundreds of bibliographical books and studies, library catalogs and even from catalogs of public sales. He did research at the National and Hebrew University Library in Jerusalem and at other extensive collections in Israel and abroad.
Otzar HaSefer Halvri lists 10.000 more books than Benjacob’s Otzar HaSefarim and 5.000 more than Friedberg’s Beth Eked Sefarim for the corresponding period.
Recorded in the Otzar is the name of the book, its contents, the name of the author, the name of the printer, the year and place of printing, the format and number of pages.
We are also told whether the book is in Judeo-German, Judeo-Spanish or any other Jewish language, whether the volume includes a translation; in which library it is found (in case of a rare book), and in which bibliography or bibliographical study it is listed or discussed.
For example The recording of the Ashkenazi Mahzor printed by Conrad Waldkirch in Basle in 1595 carries the following Hebrew signs: Kuf-Lamed 534, Feh, Sammekh, Peh Bcth l57.Shin-Tet 2466. They stand, respectfully, for the following: The book is listed in Cowley’s A Concise Catalogue of the Hebrew Printed Books in the Bodleian Library (534), is listed in Friedberg’s Beth Eked Sefarim, is found in the National and Hebrew University Library in Jerusalem, is
listed in J. Prijs’ German book about the Hebrew books printed in Basle (157) as well as in Steinschneider’s catalog of the Bodleiana (2466).
A list of the sources and their respective signs is printed in the beginning of the Otzar.
We have seen that the letter Sammekh (Sifriyah) denotes that the volume is found in the National and Hebrew University Library in Jerusalem When the letter Sammekh is enclosed in straight brackets it means that the library is in possession of a photographic copy only. If the letter Sammekh is semi-bracketted, it signifies that the library’s copy is incomplete
The books are listed according to places of printing. The latter are arranged in the order of the Alef Beth. The first entry is Edinburgh (the word beginning with an Alef) The last – Tunis.
To be continued
The Jewish Press, Friday, February 11, 1994.
Altogether there are about 300 entries of places of printing in Vinograd’s Otzar HaSefer Halvri. Among these also appear names of countries, such as Spain, Italy and Germany. In the latter are recorded books of which we know the country where they appeared, but not the particular cities or towns where they were printed.
In each entry the books arc listed in chronological order — according to the years in which they appeared. Books which were printed in the same year are arranged in accordance with the Hebrew Alef-Beth. Titles which carry no dates are listed at the end of the entry.
In the Amsterdam entry 2860 books are recorded. The city was the metropolis of Hebrew printing. The second place is occupied by Venice Its entry lists 2246 books.
The entries Lemberg, Prague, Livorno, Vienna and Vilna, list, respectively, 1992, 1884, 1275 and 1196 publications.
Places where, during the period described by the Otzar, only one book was printed, include Bayreuth, Bamberg, Wuerzburg (Germany), Vercelly (Italy), Munkacz (then Austria-Hungary) and Middelburg (Holland)
The single book published in Munkacz, was printed there in 1863 which is the terminus ad quem of the Otzar. Later, of course, more Hebrew books were printed there. Middelburg, perhaps, should not have been included in the Otzar. The sole book printed in this town, according to the Otzar, was the Spanish edition of Leon Templo’s Tavnit Heikhal, a description of the Solomonic Temple. It appeared in 1642. lts title was
Retrato del Templo del Selomo, and it was printed in Latin letters. A book printed in Spanish in non-Hebraic characters, seemingly, does not qualify for inclusion in a work about Hebrew printing. The Hebrew edition of the book (Tavnit Heikhal) appeared in Amsterdam in 1650 and is duly recorded by Vinograd in the entry Amsterdam. The book also appeared in Latin, French and Dutch.
One entry is devoted to books whose places of printing are not known. As in all other entries, the
books are listed here in chronological order. Titles, which carry no dates are enumerated at the end of the entry in the order of the AIef-Beth.
There were cases when printers — for a variety of reasons — misstated the places of printing on the title pages of their books. Vinograd endeavored, wherever possible, to point out and correct such misrepresentations as well as to amend approximated dates of printing, on the basis of bibliographical studies.
For example: According to the title page of the second edition of Shelomo Ibn Verga’s Shevet Yehuda, the book was printed in Adrianople, Turkey. More than 100 years ago, Meir Wiener pointed out, in his edition of the Shevet Yehuda, that the volume was not printed in Adrianople, but in Sabbioneta, Italy. H D. Friedberg, accepting Wiener’s view, records the book in his Beth Eked Sefarim as having been printed in Sabbioneta in 5314 (1554). Vinograd lists the book in the entry Sabbioneta, but gives the date of printing as 5327 (1567), as suggested by Benayahu (and noted by Y. Yudlov in his Ginzei Yisrael).
According to its title page, the second edition of the Mussar Treatise, Petah Einayim by R. Moshe Ashkenazy was printed in Salonica. Vinograd lists the book in the entry Salonica but notes: According to Benayahu the volume was printed in Venice • Vinograd refers here to M. Benayahu’s study, published in Mossad Harav Kook’s Rabbi Reuven Margulies Memorial Volume, in which be showed, on the basis of an examination of the types o fletters and the frames of the title pages, that Petah Einayim, supposedly printed in Salonica, as well as another book, supposedly printed in
Constantinople, were in fact both printed in Venice.
Vinograd’s Otzar also lists fragments of books of which complete copies are no more extant (see entries: Portugal and Toledo).
The volume reviewed here, is number two of the Otzar. The first volume, scheduled to be published soon, will include a general introduction as well as indices of authors, books and subjects.
(Conclusion next week)
The Jewish Press, Friday, February 18, 1994
Vinograd’s Otzar contains 700 pages, each page carrying four columns. The large volume is beautifully printed and handsomely bound. Its appearance is, as mentioned earlier, an event in the Jewih book world.
The last time a work created a stir among Jewish librarians and bibliographers was the publication in 1960 of Abraham Yaari’s impressive Bibliography of the Passover Haggadah, which listed and described more than 2700 Haggadoth.
Yaari’s bibliography gave a great impetus to the study of Haggadah editions. Moreover, it propelled librarians and collectors to search their treasures for Haggadoth which Yaari did not come across during his extensive and long-time research. Not long after the appearance of Yaari’s bibliography, additions began to be published.
Vinograd’s Otzar will, no doubt, have a similar ‘impact. His comprehensive bibliography fills a long-felt need. It provides librarians, bibliographers and Jewish scholars, generally, with a mighty tool for study and research. Additionally, however, the appearance of the Otzar will engender a great search for the “lost Hebrew book.’’
Librarians and collectors will examine their books for titles not included in the Otzar. They, as well as lovers of the Hebrew book, generally, will regard it a privilege to help supplement Vinograd’s monumental thesaurus.
Following are some Hebrew books, which do not appear in the Otzar.
The first editions of R. David Altschuler’s commentary on the Psalms, Proverbs and Job are, as far
as I know, not listed in any bibliography nor are they mentioned in the new Otzar. These commentaries were printed for the first time in Zolkiev in 5513-5514 (1753-1754). They were reprinted there in 5521 (1761).
I saw these books and described them more than 20 years ago in Sinai (vol. 67, pp. 169-172), where the title page of one of these editions was also reproduced.
After the death of his father. Rabbi David, Rabbi Yehiel Hillel Altschuler, completed the commentaries on the whole of Neviim and Kethuvim. ’The entire (Metzudat Tziyon and Metzudat David) commentary was printed for the first time in Livorno, Italy, in 1780-1782.
Vinograd lists 97 Hebrew books and booklets printed in Hanover, Germany, until 1863. These include calendars for the years 5589 (1828-1829) and 5599 (1838-1839), respectively, which he found in a private collection in New York as well as a calendar printed in 5594.
May I remark that M. Roest noted in this catalog of Hebraica and Judaica in the Rosenthaliana, Amsterdam, that the library had in its possession, calendars printed in Hanover, for the years 5589 to 5618, with the exception of those for 5591 and 5596.
The editor of these calendars was Salomon Ephraim Blogg, who established the Hebrew department in the local printshop of A.E. Teigener. Blogg died in 1858. One could have thought that after his death the calendar would have ceased publication (The last calendar in the Rosenthaliana is from 5618, i.e. 1857-1858). But this seems not to have been the case.
In Leben und Schieksal, a book about the Jewish community of Hanover, published in 1963 in Hanover, on the occasion of the dedication of a new synagogue, is found a reproduction of the title page of the calendar for the years 5621 (1860-1861).
Yosef Goldman is a well-known dealer in rare books and the owner of an extensive private collection. From time to time he disappears from New York, traveling to far off countries in search of Hebrew books. Recently he told me of an unknown edition of a Sefardi Siddur he has in his possession. It was printed in Venice in 1756 and contains unknown Piyutim, including some by Rabbi David Pardo, (then rabbi in Spalato, Dalmatia), author of the commentary on the Tosefta and other books. Vinograd mentions a Sefardi Machzor printed in Venice in 1756, but according to Goldman it is not the same book.
In an article announcing the publication of his Otzar, Vinograd pointed out: ‘The fact that this work was compiled with the help of a computer, facilitated the tabulation and analysis of bibliographical data, such as the total number of Siddurim, Mahzorim or Tikkunim printed, or the total number of Hebrew books printed in certain years.”
Several of such tabulations will appear in the shortly to be published introductory volume of the
Otzar.
The Jewish Press, Friday, February 25, 1994