Wandering in the Stacks: the Americas, Spanish & Portuguese, and Christian Hebraists

As part of the follow up on the fantastic work that was done by Kelilah, Hannah, and Avinoam, I have been revisiting some of the interesting materials that they came across while working on cataloging our rare Judaica imprints.  Below is just a sampling of some of the wonderful materials that we have in the […]

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Conservation and book repair, historical and modern

The Conservation Department at Columbia University Libraries is an often unsung hero of the libraries.  The work of their talented conservators encompasses all areas of the library, and ensures that our collections, both modern and ancient, will endure for years to come. Many times, in a routine conservation activity, hidden aspects of books come to […]

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New Databases for the new academic year! Hebrew books and Talmud Index

Just in time for the beginning of the Fall semester, I am pleased to announce the purchase of two new databases for Columbia’s Judaica collection: 1. Otzar HaHochma – a database of 72,700 digitized Hebrew books, from the 15th century to the present day.  Includes books from the presses of Mossad HaRav Kook and Mekhon […]

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Discoveries in the vault – a book collector’s book

One of the wonderful things about being the first librarian for Jewish Studies at Columbia is the constant discovery that takes place as I research and document the history of the Judaica collection.  In the process of reviewing a list of Hebrew books in the Columbia Manuscript Room (which included both rare printed books and […]

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Lecture: “Defining a Field: Jewish Books in the Age of Print”

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY BOOK HISTORY COLLOQUIUM: SPRING 2012 All programs are in Room 523, Butler Library, on the Columbia campus.  Start time is 6:00 PM. For more information about the Book History Colloquium, please contact Karla Nielsen (kn2300@columbia.edu) April 19, 2012 Emile Schrijver (University of Amsterdam) "Defining a Field: Jewish Books in the Age of Print" […]

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RAMBI: The Index to Articles in Jewish Studies

One of the first things to do before embarking on any research is to check the current work on the topic being studied.  In many cases, this can be very daunting: How do I find what has already been done?  Sure, I can check CLIO to see if there are books published in my area of […]

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New Resource: Thesaurus of the Hebrew Book

I am pleased to announce that Columbia University Libraries has recently purchased the Vinograd Thesaurus of the Hebrew Book.  This database, available only on DVD, is a very-much updated version of the print edition (located in Butler Reference: R016.4924 V56).  This searchable database lists of all books printed in Hebrew characters from 1468-1948 (including Hebrew, […]

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Hebrew mss @ CUL: Notes on Incunabula

The word manuscript comes from a combination of two Latin words (manu, meaning "hand"; and script, meaning "writing").  In the literal definition of the word, a manuscript is anything written by hand (as opposed to printed).  The manuscript you see in this post would not be found as part of our "Hebrew manuscript collection," but […]

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The Jewish Book: Past, Present, Future (Symposium at CJH)

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 […]

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New Database: Bibliography of the Hebrew Book

I am very pleased to announce the addition of a new database to Columbia's Jewish Studies collection, the Bibliography of the Hebrew Book.  This exceptional resource is a detailed database of approximately 90% of the books printed in Hebrew letters between 1470 and 1960 (Ladino and Judeo-Arabic books are all included; Yiddish books are not […]

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