Archief van Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana
Item
Country
NL
Name of institution (English)
University of Amsterdam Collections - Allard Pierson Museum
Name of institution (official language of the state)
Language of name of institution
dut
Contact information: postal address
Oude Turfmarkt 127-129, 1012 GC Amsterdam
Contact information: phone number
0031 (0)205255501
Contact information: web address
Contact information: email
Title (English)
Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana Archive
Title (official language of the state)
Archief van Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana
Language of title
dut
Creator / accumulator
Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana
Date note
since 1880
Language(s)
dut
heb
deu
eng
Extent
12 linear metres
Type of material
Textual Material
Physical condition
Good
Scope and content
The archive consists mainly of the correspondence of the successive curators of the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana with interested parties and scholars from all over the world. It also includes two war diaries by L. Hirschel and the editorial archive of the journal Studia Rosenthaliana, which has been published annually since 1967. Studia Rosenthaliana is the world’s only scholarly journal on the history, culture, and heritage of the Jews in the Netherlands, its colonies and diasporas, and it has been instrumental in disseminating research and primary sources concerning Sephardic communities in the Netherlands and the Dutch Empire.
This collection constitutes a source for the history of the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana and for the history of Jewish studies.
This collection constitutes a source for the history of the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana and for the history of Jewish studies.
Archival history
After being donated to the municipality of Amsterdam, the library has changed from a typical German-Jewish Enlightenment library into a broader Jewish library with the main focus on the cultural history of the Jews in the Netherlands. One of the highlights of its Dutch collections is the collection of prints by Dutch-Jewish printers, among which that of Menasseh ben Israel is probably the most remarkable example.
Administrative / Biographical history
Leeser Rosenthal (Nasielsk 1794 - Hanover 1868) collected a large number of rare and important Hebraica and Judaica. By his death on August 7, 1868, the library had grown to become the largest private collection in this field in Germany. The Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana has been part of the University Library since 1880 and is now part of the Special Collections of the University of Amsterdam. The first librarian of the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana was Meijer Marcus Roest, who had already produced the first printed catalogue of Leeser Rosenthal's private collection in 1875 at the request of the Rosenthal family. Under Roest's leadership, and with resources from the family, the collection developed from a German Enlightenment library into a general library in the field of Jewish cultural history, in which the Netherlands formed a centre of gravity. This process was continued by Roest's successor, Jeremias Meijer Hillesum, who was the curator from 1890 to 1930. After World War I, the financial responsibility for the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana was taken over by the municipality of Amsterdam for the benefit of the library, because the invested funds had lost their value. The collection has been and continues to be expanded with extensive purchases at domestic and foreign auctions, as well as numerous donations. Under Hillesum and his successor Louis Hirschel, who was curator until the beginning of World War II, ties with the Jewish community in Amsterdam and beyond were also strengthened, and the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana became the most important centre for the study of the history of the Jews in the Netherlands. After World War II, when an important part of the collection was confiscated by the Germans, the first years were dominated by reconstruction. The collection was returned almost entirely, but the Jewish community previously served by the library was no longer there. Leo Seeligmann was curator of the library from 1946 to 1949. Leo Fuks, who was curator from 1949 to 1973, has revived the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana by strengthening ties with academics in the Netherlands and the academic world beyond, and also through numerous publications in the Dutch Jewish press, through popular scholarly publications, to draw attention to the library's special collections. Fuks also founded the magazine Studia Rosenthaliana in 1967. Fuks' policy was continued by his successor Adri Offenberg, who worked for the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana from 1965 to 2004. The scholarly practice of Jewish book studies became then an increasingly essential part of daily work, which was ultimately also reflected in the user audience and in the nature of the correspondence and services.
Access points: locations
Access points: subject terms
Access points: document types
System of arrangement
The archive is packed in archive boxes subdivided by material type and chronologically arranged. It has not been inventoried.
Access, restrictions
The collection has limited access for research: permission is required from the collection manager for consultation. When consulted, the Regulations for the Users of the Library of the University of Amsterdam apply. Reproduction and reproduction rights fees in accordance with the University of Amsterdam Rates and Services .
Finding aids
Existence and location of copies
The collection is partly digitized and can be consulted via The Memory of the Netherlands (Collection of War Heritage) .
Author of the description
Maria Aires Carmo, 2021
Bibliography
Linked resources
Filter by property
| Title | Alternate label | Class |
|---|---|---|
| De Collecties van de Universiteit van Amsterdam - Allard Pierson | Collections (official language of the state) |