Oppenheim Collection

Country

GB

Name of institution (official language of the state)

Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford

Language of name of institution

eng

Contact information: postal address

Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BG

Contact information: phone number

0044 1865 277162 (reader services)

0044 (0)1865 277150 (special collections)

Contact information: web address

https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/

Contact information: email

reader.services@bodleian.ox.ac.uk (reader services)

specialcollections.bookings@bodleian.ox.ac.uk (special collections)

Reference number

MS. Oppenheim

Type of reference number

Archival reference number

Title (official language of the state)

Oppenheim Collection

Language of title

eng

Creator / accumulator

David ben Abraham Oppenheim

Date(s)

1200/1880

Language(s)

ara

heb

por

spa

yid

Extent

c. 5,000 storage units

Type of material

Textual Material

Physical condition

Good

Scope and content

The Oppenheim collection is composed of over 5,000 manuscripts and printed books from the library of Chief Rabbi David ben Abraham Oppenheim. It is composed of works from a wide range of subjects, including cabalistic, theological, Talmudic, philosophical, mathematical, and medical works, as well as biblical and Talmudic commentaries, prayer books, and liturgical poems.
The collection includes several Bibles, biblical texts and other manuscripts produced in the Iberian Peninsula before the late-15th century, such as the following:
MS. Oppenheim Add. 4° 140 (Neubauer 2360): Hebrew miscellany produced in Spain in the early 14th century.
MS. Oppenheim Add. 8° 18 (Neubauer 1133): Sidur according to the Sephardi rite produced in Spain in the early 14th century.
MS. Oppenheim Add. 4° 39 (Neubauer 799): Asher ben Ḥayim's Sefer ha-Pardes, produced in Spain or Provence in the second half of the 14th century.
MS. Oppenheim Add. 8° 1 (Neubauer 1088): Mahzor for the Days of Awe, rite of Catalonia, produced in Spain in the 14th or 15th centuries.
MS. Oppenheim Add. 4° 19 (Neubauer 618): Yonah ben Shlomoh ibn Bahlul's Minḥat ḳanaut, produced in Spain or North Africa in 1478.
MS. Oppenheim Add. 4° 26 (Neubauer 30): Hebrew Bible (Pentateuch, Hafṭarot, Five Megilot) containing both masorah parva and magna, produced in Spain in 1480.
MS. Oppenheim Add. 8° 37 (Neubauer 2327): Pentateuch with Targum Onḳelos, and Abraham Ibn Ezra's commentary on the margin, produced in Spain in the 14th century.
MS. Oppenheim Add. 8° 10 (Neubauer 109): Book of Psalms, the so-called "Oxford Hispano-Portuguese Psalter", produced in Spain or Lisbon in the last quarter of the 14th century.
The Oppenheim collection also comprises a few works authored by Isaac Abravanel, Oróbio de Castro, Saul Levi Mortera, and other Sephardic authors. Some examples are the following:
MS. Oppenheim Add. 4° 142 (Neubauer 2385): Isaac Abravanel's Commentary on Maimonides's Guide for the Perplexed, dating from the 16th century.
MS. Oppenheim Add. 4° 49 (Neubauer 2477): Saul Levi Mortera's Providencia de Dios con Israel, written in Amsterdam in 1663.
MS. Oppenheim Add. 4° 51 (Neubauer 2475): Saul Levi Mortera's Tratado en que se explica la prophesia de las 70 semanas de Daniel, written in Amsterdam in 1675.
MS. Oppenheim Add. 4° 148: Oróbio de Castro's Explicação paraphrastica sobre o capitulo 53 do profeta Izahias (Epitome of Oróbio de Castro's commentary on Isaiah 53), written in Amsterdam in 1674-1675.
MS. Oppenheim Add. 4° 149 (Neubauer 2479): Discurso del doctor Montalto sobre el capitulo LIII de Ezayas (Elias Montalto's speech on Isaiah 8).
MS. Oppenheim Add. 4°: Antonio Enríquez Gómez's "Romance al divín mártir, Judá Creyente, martirizado em Valladolid por la Inquisición" (Romance of divine martyr Judá Creyent, martyred in Valladolid by the Inquisition).
MS. Oppenheim 602 and MS. Oppenheim Add. Qu. 182: manuscript copies of Iggeret ha-musar.
Ms. Opp. Add. Qu. 151: List of books composed by Moses Raphael d'Aguilar. Amsterdam, 17th century.
MS. Oppenheim Add. 4° 147a/b/c (Neubauer 2472): Isaac Oróbio de Castro's Prevenciones divinas contra la vana idolatria de las gentes, written in 1724.
Some digital copies are available online:

Bodleian Library MS. Oppenheim Add. 4° 140

Bodleian Library MS. Oppenheim Add. 8° 18

Bodleian Library MS. Oppenheim Add. 4° 39

Bodleian Library MS. Oppenheim Add. 8° 1

Bodleian Library MS. Oppenheim Add. 4° 19

Bodleian Library MS. Oppenheim Add. 4° 26

Bodleian Library MS. Oppenheim Add. 8° 37

Bodleian Library MS. Oppenheim Add. 8° 10

Bodleian Library MS. Oppenheim Add. 4° 142

Bodleian Library MS. Oppenheim Add. 4° 49

Bodleian Library MS. Oppenheim Add. 4° 51

Bodleian Library MS. Oppenheim Add. 4° 148

Bodleian Library MS. Oppenheim Add. 4° 149

Bodleian Library MS. Oppenheim Add. 4° 147a

Archival history

After David Oppenheim's death, his son, Joseph Oppenheim, transferred the library to the house of a distant family member and senator of Hamburgo. It remained there stored in chests until the Bodleian Library purchased it in 1826 for 9,000 thalers.

Administrative / Biographical history

David ben Abraham Oppenheim (1664-1736) was an Austrian rabbi and a distinguished cabalist, liturgist, mathematician, and bibliophile. He was born at Worms, where his father was a communal leader.
Oppenheim was Chief Rabbi of Nikolsburg and Moravia from 1689 to 1702. Then, he was appointed Chief Rabbi of Prague, and also of the Kingdom of Bohemia, from 1718 to his death. Together with his rabbinical duties, Oppenheim also developed business transactions on a large scale.
Over the years, Oppenheim collected an impressive library of Hebrew and Yiddish manuscripts and printed books, which was increased with the personal collection of his uncle, Samuel Oppenheim, financier and court agent of Vienna. According to Johann Christoph Wolf (Bibliotheca Hebræa, vol. 1), Oppenheim's collection was composed of about 7,000 volumes, including circa 1,000 manuscripts. Oppenheim intended to open his library to the public but the censorship deeply implemented in Prague prevented him from doing so and led him to transfer his collection to Hanover and put it under the guardianship of his father-in-law, Leffmann Behrends (1634-1714), the head of the community of Hanover-Neustadtthe and financial agent of the dukes and princes of Hanover.
Oppenheim was also a prolific author, although only a few of his works were published, such as Mo'ed Dawid, on the Talmudic tractates Shabat and Betsah, published in Dessau in 1698. Among his unpublished works, there is "Meḳom Dawid", a dictionary of the places and events mentioned in the Talmud; "Yad Dawid", a commentary on the Pentateuch; and "Shelal Dawid", containing homilies, novellæ, and responsa.

Access points: locations

Amsterdam (Netherlands)

Catalonia

Lisbon (Portugal)

Northern Africa

Spain

Access points: persons, families

Abravanel, Isaac

Aguilar, Moses Raphael de

Enríquez Gómez, Antonio (António Henriquez Gomez)

Ezra, Abraham ibn

Maimon, Mosheh ben (Maimonides)