Manuscritos hebreos
Item
Country
ES
Name of institution (English)
Montserrat Library
Name of institution (official language of the state)
Language of name of institution
spa
Contact information: postal address
Abadía de Montserrat, 08199 Monistrol de Montserrat
Contact information: phone number
0034 938777768
Contact information: web address
Contact information: email
biblioteca@abadiamontserrat.net
Reference number
Ms. Or. (except Ms. Occ. 963, a 17th-century Hebrew-Italian manuscript preserved in the Occidental manuscripts section)
Type of reference number
Archival reference number
Title (English)
Hebrew Manuscripts
Title (official language of the state)
Manuscritos hebreos
Language of title
spa
Creator / accumulator
Biblioteca de Montserrat
Date note
13th century/19th century
Language(s)
heb
ita
Extent
86 storage units
Type of material
Textual Material
Physical condition
Good
Scope and content
The Hebrew manuscripts collection is part of the Oriental manuscripts fonds of the Biblioteca de Montserrat. The largest part of this collection consists of manuscripts and documents from Italian Jewish communities, including liturgical and legal writings, bibles, synagogue scrolls, ketubot, as well as books with birth, circumcision, marriage and burial records, predominantly dated from the 17th-19th centuries. The collection also includes several Yemeni and Oriental manuscript Bibles from the 18th and 19th centuries, such as a Judeo-Arabic Pentateuch with Targum Onkelos, acquired by Priest Antoni Figueras in Gadara (Umm Qais) after 1959 (Ms. Or. 120). Other highlights of the collection are a 17th-century Hebrew-Italian copy of Selomoh ibn Gabirol's Keter Malkut / Corona imperiale (Ms. Occ. 963) and a copy of Selomoh ibn Verga's Shebet yehudah, copied in Ancona in 1688 (Ms. Or. 62).
Medieval manuscripts are not abundant in this collection and mainly consist of a few fragments found between other books' folios or inside bindings. It is the case of several fragments of the Book of Esdras from a 14th-15th century Bible (Ms. Or. 157), a fragment of the Book of Ezekiel, possibly from the 13th century (Ms. Or. 149), and a few fragments of liturgical poems from about the 15th century (Ms. Or. 144).
Medieval manuscripts are not abundant in this collection and mainly consist of a few fragments found between other books' folios or inside bindings. It is the case of several fragments of the Book of Esdras from a 14th-15th century Bible (Ms. Or. 157), a fragment of the Book of Ezekiel, possibly from the 13th century (Ms. Or. 149), and a few fragments of liturgical poems from about the 15th century (Ms. Or. 144).
Archival history
This collection derives from the effort of Priest Bonaventura Ubach (1879-1960) to collect Bible-related materials. The materials were particularly intended to support his major project, the Bible of Montserrat, a Catalan translation and commentary of the Bible. The first volume of the Bible of Montserrat was published in 1926, and the project was finished in 1970, after Ubach's death. The largest part of the present collection of Hebrew manuscripts was acquired by Priest Ubach in Rome and during his voyages to Palestine and the Middle East.
In the 1950s, the Abbey of Montserrat was visited by Dr Nehemiah Allony, the first director of the Institute of Microfilmed Hebrew Manuscripts in Jerusalem, who was travelling throughout Europe to pursue Hebrew manuscripts from the major European libraries and make microfilm copies to enhance the Institute's collection. In the company of Priest Antoni Figueras, Allony studied and copied the Hebrew manuscripts from the Montserrat collection. Brief descriptions of these manuscripts were published in "List of photocopies in the Institute", vol II (Jerusalem: Ministry of Education and Culture, 1957-1962), and in an article written with Priest Figueras, "Manuscritos hebreos de la Biblioteca de Montserrat".
In the following years, the collection suffered some changes. Some manuscripts were lost, while others were acquired or donated to the Monserrat library. It is the case of a collection bequeathed in 2001 by Ramón Roca Puig, canon of the Cathedral of Barcelona, who lived his last years in the Abbey of Montserrat. This collection included four synagogue scrolls from the 18th and 19th centuries, three scrolls of the Book of Esther (one with Ashkenazi characters and the other two with Sephardic characters) and 17 ketubot, also from the 18th and 19th centuries. The collection was also increased with the discovery of some Hebrew fragments found inserted between folios or in bindings of other manuscripts.
In 2004, the Abbey of Montserrat started a project in collaboration with the Instituto de Filología del CSIC (at present, Instituto de Lenguas y Culturas del Mediterráneo y Oriente Próximo) to catalogue and study its Oriental manuscripts. The Hebrew manuscripts were examined and described by Dr. Francisco Javier del Barco, and the work resulted in the publication of the Catálogo de manuscritos hebreos de la biblioteca de Montserrat in 2008.
In the 1950s, the Abbey of Montserrat was visited by Dr Nehemiah Allony, the first director of the Institute of Microfilmed Hebrew Manuscripts in Jerusalem, who was travelling throughout Europe to pursue Hebrew manuscripts from the major European libraries and make microfilm copies to enhance the Institute's collection. In the company of Priest Antoni Figueras, Allony studied and copied the Hebrew manuscripts from the Montserrat collection. Brief descriptions of these manuscripts were published in "List of photocopies in the Institute", vol II (Jerusalem: Ministry of Education and Culture, 1957-1962), and in an article written with Priest Figueras, "Manuscritos hebreos de la Biblioteca de Montserrat".
In the following years, the collection suffered some changes. Some manuscripts were lost, while others were acquired or donated to the Monserrat library. It is the case of a collection bequeathed in 2001 by Ramón Roca Puig, canon of the Cathedral of Barcelona, who lived his last years in the Abbey of Montserrat. This collection included four synagogue scrolls from the 18th and 19th centuries, three scrolls of the Book of Esther (one with Ashkenazi characters and the other two with Sephardic characters) and 17 ketubot, also from the 18th and 19th centuries. The collection was also increased with the discovery of some Hebrew fragments found inserted between folios or in bindings of other manuscripts.
In 2004, the Abbey of Montserrat started a project in collaboration with the Instituto de Filología del CSIC (at present, Instituto de Lenguas y Culturas del Mediterráneo y Oriente Próximo) to catalogue and study its Oriental manuscripts. The Hebrew manuscripts were examined and described by Dr. Francisco Javier del Barco, and the work resulted in the publication of the Catálogo de manuscritos hebreos de la biblioteca de Montserrat in 2008.
Administrative / Biographical history
The library of Montserrat has its origins in the 11th century, in the desk of the monastery (Scriptorium), where books were received as donations and where later the monks began to copy texts. However, it was not until the 14th and 15th centuries that the activity of the Scriptorium reached its peak. At the time, the monastery had numerous book exchanges with the Catalan royal family, and it was also the period when the Llibre Vermell de Montserrat (14th-15th centuries) was produced. The opening of a typographic workshop in Montserrat, promoted by Abbot Garcia Jiménez de Cisneros in 1499, favoured the diffusion of the spiritual and cultural life of the monastery and radically transformed the dynamics of the medieval desk.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the library grew and diversified its holdings. It was considered one of the most important libraries in Catalonia due to the number of volumes and the quality of the works it contained. Books on religious subjects, such as theology, sacred scripture, patristic, etc. abounded. Although no catalogue has been preserved, it is clear that it held at least 8,500 printed volumes, 158 incunabula, and 322 manuscripts. The most tragic moment in the history of the library occurred during the Napoleonic Wars when, in 1811, the monastery was destroyed and most of the volumes were burned.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the library grew and diversified its holdings. It was considered one of the most important libraries in Catalonia due to the number of volumes and the quality of the works it contained. Books on religious subjects, such as theology, sacred scripture, patristic, etc. abounded. Although no catalogue has been preserved, it is clear that it held at least 8,500 printed volumes, 158 incunabula, and 322 manuscripts. The most tragic moment in the history of the library occurred during the Napoleonic Wars when, in 1811, the monastery was destroyed and most of the volumes were burned.
Access points: locations
Access points: subject terms
Access points: document types
System of arrangement
The Manuscritos hebreos collection is part of the Manuscritos Orientales fonds of the Biblioteca de Montserrat. The manuscripts are arranged sequentially.
Finding aids
Author of the description
Carla Vieira, 2021
Bibliography
Linked resources
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