xvi + 314 pp. frontispiece, 15x24 cm. Hard cover
Jerusalem, Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 1994, $35

Over the past 150 years, large, important collections of Hebrew manuscripts have been dispersed. Private collections are now in public libraries; individual manuscripts and collections have changed hands and call numbers have consequently been altered. Guides and catalogues published many years ago are now hopelessly out of date. Moreover, researchers have coined arbitrary numbers or used abridged signatures and cognomens in referring to some manuscripts.

The need to present a systematic account of the wanderings of collections and major manuscripts has been felt for many years. Richler's Guide provides the reader with basic bibliographical information on the MSS cited in scholarly literature and with an important tool for locating them. The Guide's alphabetical listing includes three main types of entry:

(1) Collections and Libraries

Both large and small collections are listed, with brief sketches of their histories, descriptive lists of printed catalogues and explanations of the signatures used in each library.

The listings include names of collectors and booksellers and the present locations of the manuscripts formerly in their possession whenever possible.

MSS are often referred to by cognomens (e.g., the Golden Haggadah) place names (Leningrad Bible) or names of compilers of catalogues (MS Neubauer). In each case the reader is referred to the MSS' current location.

Out of print. A revised edition is in preparation.