Jews of Italy collection of manuscripts and documents
Item
Country
US
Name of institution (official language of the state)
Language of name of institution
eng
Contact information: postal address
Sterling Memorial Library. 120 High Street, 06511 New Haven, CT
Contact information: phone number
001 (203) 432 1735
Contact information: web address
Contact information: email
mssa.assist@yale.edu
Reference number
MS 1890
Type of reference number
Archival reference number
Title (official language of the state)
Jews of Italy collection of manuscripts and documents
Language of title
eng
Creator / accumulator
Yale University Library. Judaica Collection
Date(s)
1568/1974
Date note
Bulk: 1750/1900
Language(s)
eng
heb
ita
lat
Extent
2.19 linear metres (10 containers)
Type of material
Textual Material
Scope and content
This collection is composed of a variety of documents from Jewish communities in Italy, mainly in the northern regions of Piedmont, Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy, and Veneto. It comprises records of Jewish communal organisations, correspondence of rabbis and community leaders, legal decisions, liturgy, and official notices and rulings from various Italian authorities about the Jewish community. Most of the documents are entirely handwritten, but some are printed or written on printed forms or letterheads.
The collection includes some materials from the 16th to the 18th centuries that could contain interesting information regarding the Western Sephardic Diaspora in the Italian Peninsula. Some examples are the following:
Box 1: Documents concerning the Jews of Italy, 16th-19th century. They include records concerning the property of Jews in Ancona (16th century), many documents signed by leading rabbis of Italy (16th-19th century), as well as correspondence, legal rulings, liturgical documents, and records concerning communal welfare funds and institutions from Ancona, Livorno, Modena, Carpi, and other communities.
Box 2: Documents concerning the Jewish community of Modena, including its by-laws originally written in 1654 and updated in 1791 (folder 1), and correspondence concerning a variety of matters relating to the community in the 18th century.
Box 7, folder 2: Notebook with sermons, liturgical texts, and poems (18th century), including an Italian translation of a Solomon ibn Gabirol's liturgical poem.
Series Accession 2016-M-072, box 1: Poems and wedding riddles (17th-19th centuries).
The collection includes some materials from the 16th to the 18th centuries that could contain interesting information regarding the Western Sephardic Diaspora in the Italian Peninsula. Some examples are the following:
Box 1: Documents concerning the Jews of Italy, 16th-19th century. They include records concerning the property of Jews in Ancona (16th century), many documents signed by leading rabbis of Italy (16th-19th century), as well as correspondence, legal rulings, liturgical documents, and records concerning communal welfare funds and institutions from Ancona, Livorno, Modena, Carpi, and other communities.
Box 2: Documents concerning the Jewish community of Modena, including its by-laws originally written in 1654 and updated in 1791 (folder 1), and correspondence concerning a variety of matters relating to the community in the 18th century.
Box 7, folder 2: Notebook with sermons, liturgical texts, and poems (18th century), including an Italian translation of a Solomon ibn Gabirol's liturgical poem.
Series Accession 2016-M-072, box 1: Poems and wedding riddles (17th-19th centuries).
Archival history
The materials have several provenances and were purchased from various vendors by the Judaica Collection of the Yale University Library. They were transferred to Manuscripts and Archives in 2008 and 2015.
Administrative / Biographical history
Yale has a long and rich tradition in the study of Jewish religion, history, and thought dating back to Yale's founding when the Hebrew language was a required course of study. An undergraduate major in Judaic Studies, and a graduate program training future academic leaders, was begun in the mid-1980s.
Following the receipt of two major gifts in 1915, the Yale Library established a separate Judaica collection, which is recognised as one of the major collections of Judaica in the USA. The focus of the approximately 300,000-volume collection, which includes manuscripts and rare books, is biblical, classical, medieval, and modern periods of Jewish literature and history, and supports the research needs of the faculty and students of the university's Judaic Studies Program and of the broader academic community.
Rare materials are housed in the Manuscripts and Archives Department of the Sterling Memorial Library and in the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Among the rare and unusual Judaica at the Beinecke Library are some 200 manuscripts and 45 incunabula. Special features include the Alexander Kohut Memorial Collection of Judaica, Selah Merrill Collection of Josephus, the Goodhart Collection of Philo imprints, and the Sholem Asch Collection, a collection of illuminated Jewish marriage contracts, and a collection of Jewish illuminated votive plaques.
Following the receipt of two major gifts in 1915, the Yale Library established a separate Judaica collection, which is recognised as one of the major collections of Judaica in the USA. The focus of the approximately 300,000-volume collection, which includes manuscripts and rare books, is biblical, classical, medieval, and modern periods of Jewish literature and history, and supports the research needs of the faculty and students of the university's Judaic Studies Program and of the broader academic community.
Rare materials are housed in the Manuscripts and Archives Department of the Sterling Memorial Library and in the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Among the rare and unusual Judaica at the Beinecke Library are some 200 manuscripts and 45 incunabula. Special features include the Alexander Kohut Memorial Collection of Judaica, Selah Merrill Collection of Josephus, the Goodhart Collection of Philo imprints, and the Sholem Asch Collection, a collection of illuminated Jewish marriage contracts, and a collection of Jewish illuminated votive plaques.
Access points: locations
Access points: subject terms
Access points: document types
System of arrangement
The arrangement of the materials reflects their purchase from various rare materials dealers. Manuscripts are usually accompanied by an inventory supplied by the dealer, typically in Hebrew.
Access, restrictions
The materials are open for research.
Links to finding aids
Author of the description
Carla Vieira, 2022
Linked resources
Filter by property
| Title | Alternate label | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Sterling Memorial Library/Yale University Library | Collections (official language of the state) |