History of the Early Printed Hebrew Book: Important Collections Today

This is a guide to the History of the Early Printed Hebrew Book. It was copied with permission from the guide at the University of Pennsylvania, created by Bruce E. Nielsen, and updated for Columbia University by Michelle Chesner

Catalogs of Important Hebrew Book Collections

United Kingdom

Adams, Herbert M.
Catalogue of Books printed on the continent of Europe, 1501-1600 in Cambridge Libraries, 2 volumes (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1967)
Rare Book & Manuscript Library Reading Room. R019.06 Ad17

Catalogue of Hebraica & Judaica in Library of the Corporation of the City of London
London:  The Library committee, 1891
Available via HathiTrust Digital Library. https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/010114178

Cowley, Arthur Ernst
A Concise Catalogue of the Hebrew Printed Books in the Bodleian Library
Oxford:  The Clarendon Press, 1929, reprint 1971
Katz Center - Reference Room. Z7070 .B62 1929
Katz Center - Stacks. Z7070 .B62 1929
Van Pelt Library. Z7070 .O94 1971

Oates, John Claud Trewinard
“Hebraica,” pp. 231-240 in, Cambridge University Library: A History: From the Beginnings to the Copyright Act of Queen Anne (Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 1986)
[In 1647 John Selden convinced Parliament to appropriate ?£500 in order to purchase from George Thomason a major collection of Hebrew books from Italy formerly belonging to Rabbi Isaac Pragi and had presented it to the Cambridge University.]
Van Pelt Library. Z792.C18 O28 1986

Rowland-Smith, Diana
Second supplementary catalogue of Hebrew printed books in the British Library, 1893-1960
London: British Library, 1994
Katz Center - Reference Room. Z7070 .B86 SUPP2 1994
Van Pelt Reference - Stacks. Z7070 .B86 Suppl.2
Van Pelt Library. Z7070 .B86 Suppl.2

Schaeper, Silke
“Inventory of Hebrew Incunabula,” pp. 2715-2747 in volume 6, A Catalogue of Books Printed in the Fifteenth Century now in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, 6 volumes (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), edd. Alan Coates, Kristian Jensen, Cristina Dondi, Bettina Wagner, and Helen Dixon
Rare Book & Manuscript Library - Reference Collection. Z240.A1 B63 2005
http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/48866/bod-inc_Volume_6_Hebrew.pdf

Steinschneider, Moritz  
Catalogus Librorum Hebraeorum in Bibliotheca Bodleiana
Berlin:  A.D. Friedlaender, 1852-60
Katz Center – Reference Room. Z7070 .B6 1931
Katz Center – Stacks Z7070 .B6 1852
Available via HathiTrust Digital Library. http://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/6134042.html
Rare Book & Manuscript Library - Rare Book Collection. Z7070 .O93

Van Straalen, Samuel with indexes and an introduction by Brad Sabin Hill
Catalogue of Hebrew printers (ca. 1500-ca. 1900) : as represented in the holdings of the British Museum (now British Library) : reproduced from the unpublished manuscript held in the Hebrew Section, Oriental and India Office Collections, 3 volumes
London : British Library, 1995
Katz Center – Reference Folio. Z231 .B75 1995a

Zedner, Joseph  
Catalogue of the Hebrew Books in the Library of the British Museum
London:  The British Museum, 1867
Katz Center – Reference Room. Z7070 .B86 1964
Available via HathiTrust Digital Library.  http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/009365650
Katz Center – Stacks. Z7070 .B86 1867
Available via HathiTrust Digital Library.   http://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/3562953.html
Van Pelt Library. Z7070 .B86

France

Baurmeister, Ursula
Catalogue des Incunables:  Bibliothèque Nationale.  Tome II : H-Z et Hebraica
Paris : Bibliothe`que nationale, 1985
Rare Book & Manuscript Library - Reference Collection. BOOKART 019.1944 F84

Italian

Bramati, Daniela et al., edd.
Biblioteca della comunita` ebraica di Verona. Il fondo ebraico
Verona, Italy : Biblioteca Civica Di Verona, 1999
Katz Center - Reference Room. Z810.B473 B54 1999
Van Pelt Library. Z810.B473 B54 1999

Busi, Giulio; preface by Giuliano Tamani
Edizioni ebraiche del XVI secolo nelle biblioteche dell'Emilia Romagna /
Bologna : Analisi, c1987
Katz Center - Reference Room. Z1014 .B87 1987

Busi, Giulio
Libri ebraici a Mantova, 4 volumes
Fiesole (Firenze) : Cadmo, 1996-2003
Katz Center - Reference Room. BM45 .L538 1996
Van Pelt Library. BM45 .L538 1996

Di Nola, Annalisa
Le cinquecentine ebraiche : catalogo.  Bbiblioteca Casanatense Roma
Milano : Aisthesis, c2001
Katz Center - Reference Room. Z7070 .B54 2001
Van Pelt Library. Z7070 .B54 2001

Piattelli, Mordechai Angelo
“Edizioni ebraiche del XVI secolo nella Biblioteca Angelica di Roma,” Accademie e Biblioteche d’Italia 59.1 (1991) 24-49
Van Pelt Library. Z671 .A18

Tamani, Giuliano
Libri ebraici dei secoli XVI-XIX nella Biblioteca Universitaria di Padova catalogo
Padova : Biblioteca universitaria di Padova, Editoriale programma, 2005
Katz Center – Stacks. Z7070 .B53 2005

Ugolini, Mariano
Inventario dei libri stampati palatino-vaticani: pte. 1. Libri ebraici, Libri latini, n. la-1650g
Roma: Tipografia Vaticana, 1889; repr. Nieuwkoop : B. de Graaf, 1966
Van Pelt Library Z933.R8 P2
Rare Book & Manuscript Library - Reference Collection. Z933.R8 P2 1966
Available via HathiTrust Digital Library. http://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/7108966.html

Germany and Northern Europe

Dannhauer, Paul Gerhard
Die jiddischen Drucke der Bayerischen Staatsbibliothek : alphabetischer Katalog mit einem Verfasserregister in hebräischer Schrift = The Yiddish printed books in the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek : alphabetical catalogue with an index of names in Hebrew script.
München : K.G. Saur, 2004
Katz Center - Reference Folio. Z7038.Y53 J53 2004

Offenberg, Adri K., Emile G.L. Schrijver and F.J. Hoogewoud, edd.
Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana : treasures of Jewish booklore : marking the 200th anniversary of the birth of Leeser Rosenthal, 1794-1994
Amsterdam : Amsterdam University Press, 1996
Katz Center – Reference Folio. Z688.J48 B43 1994
Van Pelt Library. Z6375 .B534 1994
Van Pelt Library. Z6375 .B534 1996

Roest, Meijer Marcus  
Catalog der Hebraica und Judaica aus der L. Rosenthal’schen Bibliothek, 2 volumes
Amsterdam: J. Clausen, 1875; repr. 1966
Katz Center - Reference Room. Z7070 .R67 1875
Van Pelt Library. Z7070 .R8 1966
Available via HathiTrust Digital Library. http://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/6436716.html

Central Europe

Hill, Brad Sabin
“The Bulgarian State Collection of Hebraica,” Judaica Librarianship 8 (1994) 139-41,144
Katz Center - Periodicals B2. Z675.J4 A57
Research Annex (LIBRA). Z675.J4 A57
http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=5&sid=870d588c-df79-4893-a717-80f90d576afb%40sessionmgr106&hid=105

Sixtová, Olga
“Hebraica and Judaica at the Research Library in Olomouc,” Judaica Bohemiae 45 (2010) 71-85
Katz Center - Periodicals B1. DS135.C95 J82

Sixtová, Olga
“Hebraika ve Vedecké knihovne v Olomouci,” [Hebraica in the Scientific Library in Olomouc] pp. 13-24 in, Problematika historických a vzácných knižních fondu Cech, Moravy a Slezska : sborník z 18. odborné konference Olomouc, 14. - 15. ríjna 2009 (Olomouc: Research Library in Olomouc et al ., 2010) ed. Krušinský, Rostislav
http://www.vkol.cz/data/soubory/import/konf18/p02-Sixtov%C3%A1-2009.pdf

Russia and Eastern Europe

Iakerson, Shimon M.
Evreiskie inkunabuly.  Opisanie ekzempliarov, khraniashchikhsia v bibliotekakh Moskvy i Leningrada / Hebrew Incunabula.  Description of publications in libraries of Moscow and Leningrad
Leningrad:  Biblioteka Akademii nauk SSSR, 1988
Katz Center - Reference Room. Z240 .I29 1988
Katz Center - Stacks. Z240 .I29 1988
Van Pelt Library. Z240 .E87 1988

Iakerson, Shimon M.
Katalog inkunabulov na drevneevreiskom iazyke biblioteki Leningradskogo otdeleniia Instituta vostokovedeniia AN SSSR
Leningrad:  Biblioteka Akademii nauk SSSR, 1985
Katz Center - Reference Room. Z240 .I655 1985
Rare Book & Manuscript Library - Reference Collection. Z240 .I655 1985

Wiener, Samuel
קהלת משה אריה ליב פרידלאנד : רשימת ... הספרים העברים ... הנמצאים באספת-פרידלאנד ... בס"ט פטרבורג / ערוכה ... תחת השגחת דניאל חוואלזאן = Qohelet Mosheh Aryeh Lieb Friedland. A list of the Hebrew books ... assembled by Friedland ... in St. Petersburg under the supervision of Daniel Khvolʹson, 2 volumes
St. Petersburg, 1893-1918; aleph to kaf.  
A volume with the letter lamed was published by Joseph Bender
Leningrad :  s.n., 1935; repr. 1968
Katz Center – Reference Room. Z7070 .A95 1968
Katz Center – Stacks. Z7070 .A95 1968

Merzbacher, Abraham  
אהל אברהם רשימת ספרים אשר אסף וקבץ אברהם מערצבעכער = Ohel Avraham.  List of books Abraham Merzbacher gathered and collected
Munich:  A. Huber, 1888
Katz Center - Stacks. Z7070 .M47 1888

Iberia

Mucznik, Lúcia Liba
Judaica nas coleções da Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal : séculos XIII a XVIII
Lisboa : Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal, 2014
Van Pelt Library. Z228.H4 M83 2014

Valle Rodríguez, Carlos del
Catálogo de hebraica, impresos, y de judaica, manuscritos e impresos, de la Biblioteca Nacional de Madrid: Letras A-I
Madrid: Aben Ezra Ediciones, 2004
Available via BorrowDirect from Harvard University

Israel

Schaeper, Silke
“'S’ridei Schocken' - 'Einbandfragmente' of Hebrew incunabula and postincunabula at the Schocken Institute for Jewish Research,” pp. I:627-635 in, Jewish Studies at the Turn of the Twentieth Century: Proceedings of the 6th EAJS Congress, Toledo, July 1998 (Leiden: Brill, 1999) edd. Judit Targarona Borrás and Angel Sáenz-Badillos
Katz Center - Stacks. BM30 .E86 1998
Van Pelt Library. BM30 .E86 1998

Catalogs of Collections: US

Sixteenth-Century Hebrew Books at the Library of Congress.  A Finding Aid
http://www.loc.gov/rr/amed/pdf/16thCentury_FindingAid.pdf

16th Century Hebrew Imprints at the Beinecke Library, Yale University
http://www.library.yale.edu/judaica/site/collection/16imprints.php

Berlin, Charles
Catalog of the Judaica collection of the Harvard College Library, 11 volumes
Cambridge: Harvard College Library, 2004
Z733.H34 B47 2004

Iakerson, Shimon M.
אהל חיים : קטלוג כתבי־היד העבריים בספריית משפחת מנשה רפאל ושרה ליהמן = Ohel Hayim.  A Catalog of Hebrew Manuscripts of the Manfred and Anne Lehmann Family, 3 volumes; 3. Sefarim nidpasim : ink?unabulim v?e-sifre ha-me?ah ha-shesh-?e'sreh = Printed Books.  Incunabula and Sixteenth Century Books
New York:  Manfred and Anne Lehmann Foundation, 1988
Katz Center - Reference Room. Z6636.L44 H35 1988
Van Pelt Library. Z692.M28 L45 1988

Iakerson, Shimon M.
קטלוג האינקונבולים העבריים מאוסף ספריית בית המדרש לרבנים באמריקה = Catalogue of Hebrew incunabula from the collection of the Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 2 volumes
New York ; Jerusalem: The Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 2004-2005.
Katz Center - Reference Folio. Z240.A1 J49 2004

Kaplan, Mordecai Menahem, Panorama of Ancient Letters:  Four and a Half Centuries of Hebraica and Judaica.  Bibliographical notes and descriptions of 1,000 rare books and manuscripts (New York [Prepared and photo-offset by Academy Photo Offset] 1942)

Marwick, Lawrence
“The Hebraic Collection in the Library of Congress,” Jewish Book Annual  36 (1978/79) 60-66
Katz Center – Stacks. PN6067 .J4
Van Pelt Library. PN6067 .J4

General Catalogs

General Catalog

Benjacob, Isaac
אוצר הספרים = Ozar ha-sepharim : Thesaurus librorum hebraicorum tam impressorum quam manu scriptorum
Vilna, 1880; repr. New York:  Hotsa'at Yerushalayim, 1944)
Available via HathiTrust Digital Library.  http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/006189976

Friedberg, Bernhard
בית עקד ספרים : לקסיקון ביבליוגרפי לידיעת הספרות העברית בכלל ושמות הספרים העברים וביהודית-אשכנזית (יידיש-דייטש) בפרט, וכמו-כן אלה בשפות איטלקית, טטרית, יונית, ספרדית, ערבית, פרסית = Bet Eked Sepharim bibliographical lexicon of the whole Hebrew and Jewish-German Literature, inclusive of the Arab, Greek, French-Provencal, Italian, Latin, Persian, Samaritan, Spanish-Portuguese and Tartarian works, printed in the years 1474-1950 with Hebrew letters, 4 volumes
Israel :  s.n., 1990
Katz Center - Reference Room. Z7070 .F75 1990z

Marx, Moses
History and annals of Hebrew printing [1501-1600], 13 reels
Reel 5. Venice-Bomberg bibliography (plus earlier draft of Bomberg-Cavalli).
Cincinnati : Library, Hebrew Union College, 1989
Katz Center – Microfilm. Z124.A2 M37 1989

Moria, M.
בית עקד ספרים החדש = The new bibliographical lexicon
K?iryat-Shemonah :  Mekhon Tsiyon, [1974-1976]
Van Pelt Library. PJ5035 .M6

Slatkine, Menahem Mendel
         אוצר הספרים. חלק שני  = Thesaurus of books, part two
Jerusalem : Kiryat Sefer, 1965
Katz Center - Reference Room. Z7070 .B33 1965
Katz Center - Stacks. Z7070 .B33 1965