Kennicott Collection
Item
Country
GB
Name of institution (official language of the state)
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
Contact information: email
reader.services@bodleian.ox.ac.uk (reader services)
specialcollections.bookings@bodleian.ox.ac.uk (special collections)
Reference number
MS. Kennicott
Type of reference number
Archival reference number
Title (official language of the state)
Kennicott Collection
Language of title
eng
Creator / accumulator
Benjamin Kennicott
Date(s)
1220/1500
Language(s)
heb
lat
Type of material
Textual Material
Scope and content
This collection is composed of Biblical manuscripts in Hebrew, Syriac, and Arabic, collected by the Hebrew scholar Benjamin Kennicott. The manuscripts gathered by Benjamin Kennicott include a small number of Latin Bibles, amongst primarily Hebrew collections. One of the highlights of the collection is the so-called Kennicott Bible, a Bible written in Sephardic script with David Kimhi's Sefer Mikhlol. The Bible was produced under the patronage of Isaac di Braga, copied by Moses Ibn Zabarah, and illuminated by Joseph Ibn Ḥayyim in La Coruña, 1476. After the expulsion of 1492, the Bible was presumably taken with Isaac di Braga to Portugal, and from there to North Africa. The Kennicott Bible has been acknowledged as one of the richest and most skillfully illuminated medieval Hebrew manuscripts. It is considered a masterpiece in view of its 77 fully illuminated pages and overall abundant decoration (MS. Kennicott 1, Neubauer 2322).
The Kennicott collection also contains other manuscripts of Sephardic origin, such as the following:
MS. Kennicott 2 (Neubauer 2323): Hebrew Bible produced in Soria, Spain, dated 1306.
MS. Kennicott 4 (Neubauer 2326): Pentateuch with Five Scrolls and Haftarot, also produced in Spain and dating from the early 14th century
MS. Kennicott 7 (Neubauer 2331): Fragments of the Latter Prophets, originally from Toledo, Spain, copied by Israel ibn Isaac ibn Israel, and dated 1222.
Digital copies are available online:
The Kennicott collection also contains other manuscripts of Sephardic origin, such as the following:
MS. Kennicott 2 (Neubauer 2323): Hebrew Bible produced in Soria, Spain, dated 1306.
MS. Kennicott 4 (Neubauer 2326): Pentateuch with Five Scrolls and Haftarot, also produced in Spain and dating from the early 14th century
MS. Kennicott 7 (Neubauer 2331): Fragments of the Latter Prophets, originally from Toledo, Spain, copied by Israel ibn Isaac ibn Israel, and dated 1222.
Digital copies are available online:
Archival history
Kennicott's manuscript collection was deposited in the Radcliffe Library until 1872 when it was transferred to the Bodleian Library.
Administrative / Biographical history
Benjamin Kennicott (1718-1783) was an English clergyman, biblical scholar, and Hebraist. Kennicott was admitted into Oxford in 1744 and, while still an undergraduate student, published two dissertations: On the Tree of Life in Paradise, with some Observations on the Fall of Man, and On the Oblations of Cain and Abel, which granted him his B.A. Later, in 1753 and 1759, he published two other dissertations entitled The State of the Printed Hebrew Text of the Old Testament considered, questioning the integrity of the Hebrew text. However, his major work was the Vetus Testamentum hebraicum cum variis lectionibus (1776–1780), produced through the collation of 52 printed editions of the Bible, 615 Hebrew manuscripts, and 16 manuscripts of the Samaritan Pentateuch. Kennicott sent the Radcliffe Library the manuscript collations he had worked on. He was librarian there from 1767 until his death.
Access points: locations
Access points: persons, families
Access points: subject terms
Access points: document types
Access, restrictions
Digital copies of some manuscripts are available at:
Finding aids
Links to finding aids
Existence and location of copies
Hebrew Bible produced in Soria (Spain). 1306: The National Library of Israel, Jerusalem, Israel (F 21015).
Fragments of the Latter Prophets. 1222: The National Library of Israel, Jerusalem, Israel (F 21023).
Author of the description
Joana Rodrigues, 2022
Bibliography
Published primary sources
Linked resources
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| Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford | Collections (official language of the state) |
| Title | Alternate label | Class |
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| כתיב (Ktiv) | Existence and location of originals |