Rare Book Department: European Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts
Item
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Country
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US
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Language of name of institution
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eng
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Contact information: postal address
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1901 Vine Street, Third Floor, 19103 Philadelphia, PA
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Contact information: phone number
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001 215 686 5416
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Contact information: email
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erefrbd@freelibrary.org
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Contact form
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Title (official language of the state)
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Rare Book Department: European Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts
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Language of title
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eng
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Creator / accumulator
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Lewis, John Frederick
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Date note
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10th century/15th century (bulk: 14th century/15th century)
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Language(s)
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eng
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heb
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lat
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Extent
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ca. 250 books and scrolls, ca. 3,000 documents
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Type of material
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Textual Material
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Graphic Material
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Physical condition
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Good
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Scope and content
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The Rare Book Department is one of the largest public library special collections in the United States. It comprises thousands of illuminated medieval manuscripts and cuttings; first editions; letters and manuscripts of eminent writers, such as Charles Dickens and Edgar Allan Poe; among other handwritten and printed books and documents. The Rare Book Department includes a European Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts collection, comprising more than 250 handwritten books and scrolls and over 3,000 single pages (known as "leaves") and cuttings. Digital copies of part of this collection are available online.
An illuminated Hebrew Bible of Sephardic production, composed in Lisbon in 1496 (MS Lewis Or. 140), is part of this collection. According to Tiago Moita (2017), the scribe was probably Isaac, son of Ishai Sasson, whose name appears erased in the colophon. For more information on this Bible, see Arbit (2012).
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Administrative / Biographical history
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John Frederick Lewis (1860–1932) was a Philadelphia lawyer, philanthropist and collector of rare books and fine art.
Lewis studied Law and was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar in 1882. In 1925, he received his A.M. and LL.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. Lewis was an active member of the Law Association of Philadelphia and the Law Academy and was a regular guest lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
An active member of St. John's Lutheran Church and involved with the Young Peoples' Lutheran Association, Lewis long supported the Pennsylvania Institute for the Deaf and Dumb.
Over the years, Lewis assembled a remarkable collection of rare books and fine art. His interest in early forms of writing and books led him to collect cuneiform tablets and cones, as well as European and Oriental manuscripts. He was often asked to give talks to art classes at the University of Pennsylvania and other groups in the city on topics such as oriental art. Most of Lewis's collections were donated to Philadelphia museums and libraries, including the Rare Book Department of the Free Library of Philadelphia, where he had served on the Board of Trustees.
Lewis was the author of several books that reflect his wide-ranging interests, including History of the Apprentices' Library of Philadelphia, 1820-1920, the Oldest Free Circulating Library in America (1924), The Redemption of the Lower Schuylkill: the River As It Was, The River As It is, The River As It Should Be (1924), Thomas Spry, Lawyer and Physician (1932), and The History Of An Old Philadelphia Land Title, 208 South Fourth Street (1934).
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(source: John Frederick Lewis papers. University of Delaware Library Special Collections)
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Access, restrictions
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Prior appointment is required.
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Finding aids
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Many, but not all, of the Rare Book Department's holdings have been cataloged or inventoried. Consult the Free Library's online catalogue.
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Author of the description
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Carla Vieira, 2022
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Bibliography
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Afonso, Luís Urbano. 2014. “A Escola de Lisboa no contexto dos manuscritos sefarditas iluminados tardo-medievais.” In O livro e as interações culturais judaico-cristãs em Portugal no final da Idade Média. Série monográfica “Alberto Benveniste.” Lisbon: Cátedra de Estudos Sefarditas Alberto Benveniste : ARTIS, Instituto de História da Arte, Faculdade de Letras, Universidade de Lisboa.
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Arbit, Tali. 2012. “The Free Library Bible, Its Decoration and Its History: A Case Study in 15th Century Spanish Hebrew Bibles.” MA thesis, Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania.
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Metzger, Thérèse. 1974. “La Masora ornementale et le décor calligraphique dans les manuscrits hébreux espagnols au Moyen Âge.” In La paléographie hébraïque médiévale. Actes du Colloque international organisé dans le cadre des Colloques internationaux du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique à Paris du 11 au 13 septembre 1972, 87–116. Paris.
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Moita, Tiago. 2017. “O Livro Hebraico Português Na Idade Média: Do Sefer He-Aruk de Seia (1284-85) Aos Manuscritos Tardo-Medievais Da ‘Escola de Lisboa’ e Aos Primeiros Incunábulos.” PhD thesis, Lisboa: Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Lisboa.
