Oriental manuscripts: Hebrew manuscripts

Country

GB

Name of institution (official language of the state)

British Library

Language of name of institution

eng

Contact information: postal address

96 Euston Road, London NW1 2DB

Contact information: phone number

0044 (0)1937 546060 (Customer Services)

Contact information: web address

https://www.bl.uk/subjects/manuscripts-and-archives#

Contact information: email

mss@bl.uk

Reference number

Or.

Type of reference number

Archival reference number

Title (official language of the state)

Oriental manuscripts: Hebrew manuscripts

Language of title

eng

Creator / accumulator

British Library

Language(s)

heb

eng

por

spa

Type of material

Textual Material

Scope and content

The Oriental manuscripts collection of the British Library contains a vast number of Hebrew manuscripts, in particular biblical and liturgical manuscripts, as well as rare literary, philosophical, and scientific treatises. Among its Hebrew holdings, there are several volumes of Sephardic origins, such as the following:
Or. 2737: the "Hispano-Moresque Haggadah", a Haggadah for Passover, written in Sephardic square script, and produced in Spain in the last quarter of the 13th century or first quarter of the 14th century.
Or. 2201: the "First Ibn Merwas Bible", Spanish Hebrew manuscripts of the Bible with Masorah, written in Sephardic square script, and copied by Joseph ben Judah ben Merwas in Toledo in the 14th century.
Or. 2884: the "Sister Haggadah", a Haggadah for Passover, written in Sephardic square script, and produced in Barcelona in the second or third quarter of the 14th century.
Or. 14061: Maimonides's Guide of the Perplexed (Moreh Nevukhim), written in Sephardic square and semi-cursive script, and copied by Levi ben Isaac ben Caro of Salamanca in the second or third quarter of the 14th century.
Or. 1404: the "Brother Haggadah", a Haggadah with commentary and liturgical poems for Passover, written in Sephardic square script, and produced in Catalonia, in the third quarter of the 14th century.
Or. 1424: biblical readings and liturgical poems for Passover, written in Sephardic square and semi-cursive script, and produced in Catalonia in the third quarter of the 14th century.
Or. 2396: a manuscript copy of Iggeret ha-musar dating from 1382.
Or. 11594: a Mahzor for the whole year with the commentary of Joseph Zaddik, written in Sephardic square, semi-cursive and cursive script, and produced in Spain in the first half of the 15th century.
Or. 2626, Or. 2627 and Or. 2628: the so-called "Lisbon Bible", a Hebrew Bible with masorah magna and parva, written in Sephardic square script and copied by Samuel ben Samuel ibn Musa in 1483.
Or. 1045: David Kimhi's Sefer Mihlol and Et Sofer, produced in Lisbon in 1487.
Or. 6363: Josué ha-Levi's Sefer Halikot 'olam, produced in Lisbon in 1489.
Or. 1425: Profiat Duran's Ma῾aseh efod, written in Sefardic semi-cursive scripts of the 15th to 16 century.
Or. 10688: an Aljamiado version of Leão Hebreu's Diálogos de Amor, 16th century.
Or. 8697: an 18th-century Portuguese collection of tales based on biblical and midrashic stories.
Or. 8698: an 18th-century collection of Spanish and Portuguese essays and responsa on topics of Jewish apologetics and divinity, compiled by Matatia de Immanuel Aboab.
Digital copies of some manuscripts are available online:

Or. 1404

Or. 2201

Or. 2626

Or. 2627

Or. 2628

Or. 2737

Or. 2884

Or. 8697

Or. 8698

Or. 14061

Archival history

The British Museum began acquiring Oriental manuscripts over 200 years ago, either through purchase or donation. Since 1973, the British Library has continued to gather more and more Hebrew manuscripts to the collection. Currently, the Hebrew collections held at the British Library comprise around 3,000 manuscript volumes and about 75,000 book titles, mostly in Hebrew, but also including works in other languages, such as Aramaic, Judeo-Arabic, Judeo-Italian, Judeo-Persian, Judeo-Spanish, Yiddish, among others. Additionally, the Britsh Library preserves around 7,000 manuscript fragments, mainly from the Cairo Genizah, nearly 1,000 Hebrew and Yiddish periodical and newspaper titles, and considerable numbers of manuscripts, printed books, and periodicals in microforms.

Sources:

Hebrew collections

Hebrew Illuminated Manuscripts

Administrative / Biographical history

The British Library was founded in 1973, following the British Library Act. Several organisations were brought together to create a national library, including the British Museum.
The British Museum was created in 1753 as "one general repository" to hold the collections of Sir Hans Sloane, Sir Robert Cotton, and Robert and Edward Harley. When it inherited the library of George III in 1823, its printed books doubled in number, prompting a move to the site of the current British Museum. Opening in 1857, the British Museum Library’s Round Reading Room became an iconic destination in the literary landscape of London. The room welcomed many famous visitors including Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens, Karl Marx, George Bernard Shaw, and Virginia Woolf. During World War II, some of the British Museum Library's most precious treasures were moved to a secure cave in Aberystwyth, with round-the-clock guards.
The actual British Library's building in St Pancras opened its doors to the public in November 1997. The Library became the largest public building constructed in Britain in the last 100 years.
Over the last 250 years, the British Library has become one of the greatest libraries in the world. Its physical collections are growing all the time and so are its digital collections, which include Digitised Manuscripts, the UK Web Archive, and over one million rights-free images.

(source: History of the British Library)