Incunabula
Item
Country
GB
Name of institution (official language of the state)
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
Contact information: email
customer-services@bl.uk.
Title (official language of the state)
Incunabula
Language of title
eng
Creator / accumulator
British Library
Date note
15th century
Language(s)
deu
dut
eng
heb
fra
ita
lat
por
spa
others
Extent
c. 12,500 books
Type of material
Textual Material
Scope and content
The British Library holds an important collection of incunabula, including some printed in Jewish printing houses in Portugal and Spain before the late 15th-century expulsions. Some examples are the following:
C.50.c.22: Jacob ben Asher, Tur Orah Hayyim. Spain?, 1485.
C.49.c.1: Torah. Faro: Samuel Gacon, 1487.
C.50.c.16: David Abudraham, Perush Seder Tefillot. Lisbon: Eliezer Toledano, 1489.
C.50.d.3: Moses ben Nahman, Perush ha-Torah. Lisbon: Eliezer Toledano, 1489.
C.50.d.17 and C.9.c.7,8: Pentateuch with commentary of Rashi. Lisbon: Eliezer Toledano, 1491. Two copies.
C.50*.b.8: Hebrew Bible: Prophets, with commentary of David Kimhi. Lisbon: Eliezer Toledano, 1492.
C.50*.b.1: Hebrew Bible. Mishle, with commentaries of Menahem Meiri and Levi ben Gershom. Leiria: Samuel d'Ortas, 1492.
C.50.b.13: Jeshuah ben Joseph Halevi, Sefer Halikhot Olam; Jonah Gerondi, Sefer ha-Yirah ve-Sod ha-Teshuvah. Leiria: Samuel d'Ortas, 1492-6.
C.50*.d.6: Hebrew Bible. Neviim Rishonim, with commentaries of David Kimhi and Levi ben Gershom. Leiria: Samuel d'Ortas, 1494.
C.49.e.18: Jacob ben Asher. Tur Orah Hayyim. Leiria: Samuel d'Ortas, 1495.
IA.56710: Abraham Zacuto, Almanach perpetuum. Leiria: Samuel d'Ortas, 1496.
C.50.c.22: Jacob ben Asher, Tur Orah Hayyim. Spain?, 1485.
C.49.c.1: Torah. Faro: Samuel Gacon, 1487.
C.50.c.16: David Abudraham, Perush Seder Tefillot. Lisbon: Eliezer Toledano, 1489.
C.50.d.3: Moses ben Nahman, Perush ha-Torah. Lisbon: Eliezer Toledano, 1489.
C.50.d.17 and C.9.c.7,8: Pentateuch with commentary of Rashi. Lisbon: Eliezer Toledano, 1491. Two copies.
C.50*.b.8: Hebrew Bible: Prophets, with commentary of David Kimhi. Lisbon: Eliezer Toledano, 1492.
C.50*.b.1: Hebrew Bible. Mishle, with commentaries of Menahem Meiri and Levi ben Gershom. Leiria: Samuel d'Ortas, 1492.
C.50.b.13: Jeshuah ben Joseph Halevi, Sefer Halikhot Olam; Jonah Gerondi, Sefer ha-Yirah ve-Sod ha-Teshuvah. Leiria: Samuel d'Ortas, 1492-6.
C.50*.d.6: Hebrew Bible. Neviim Rishonim, with commentaries of David Kimhi and Levi ben Gershom. Leiria: Samuel d'Ortas, 1494.
C.49.e.18: Jacob ben Asher. Tur Orah Hayyim. Leiria: Samuel d'Ortas, 1495.
IA.56710: Abraham Zacuto, Almanach perpetuum. Leiria: Samuel d'Ortas, 1496.
Administrative / Biographical history
The British Library was founded in 1973 in the sequence of 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.
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.
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Links to finding aids
Author of the description
Joana Rodrigues and Carla Vieira, 2022
Published primary sources
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