Neofiti
Item
Country
IT
Name of institution (English)
Vatican Apostolic Library
Name of institution (official language of the state)
Language of name of institution
ita
Contact information: postal address
Cortile del Belvedere V, 00120 Vatican City
Contact information: phone number
0039 0669879411
Contact information: web address
Reference number
Neofiti.
Type of reference number
Archival reference number
Title (English)
Neophytes
Title (official language of the state)
Neofiti
Language of title
ita
Creator / accumulator
Pia Domus Neophytorum
Date note
14th century/19th century
Language(s)
heb
ita
lat
Extent
55 storage units
Type of material
Textual Material
Physical condition
Good
Scope and content
The manuscripts kept in the Neofiti collection of the Vatican Library belonged to the Pia Domus Neophytorum (College of Neophytes) of Rome, founded in the 16th century. The collection is mostly composed of codices in Hebrew scripture from the 14th to the 19th centuries, but with a predominance of 15th and 16th-century manuscripts. Religious works are dominant, especially Bibles, commentaries to the Pentateuch and the Prophetic books, and kabbalistic works; but it also includes collections of texts on Philosophy, Medicine, and other matters, as well as Hebrew translations of classical texts. Regarding texts of Sephardic origin, the Neofiti collection includes a manuscript of Nahmanides' Commentary on the Torah copied by Jacob b. Moses ibn Arama in the Zamora yeshivah in 1454 (Neofiti 7).
Archival history
The Neofiti collection was autonomously established in 1891, with the acquisition of approximately 42 manuscripts on April 1. In 1896, a second acquisition enriched the collection, after manuscripts and printed books that had remained in the library of the College of Neophytes were purchased by prefect Franz Ehrle (1845-1934). In 1976, manuscripts Neofiti 38-39, 49-51 (Hebrew-related codices written in Latin characters) were extracted from the collection to be inserted in the Vaticani Latini, with the signatures Vat. lat. 14627-14631.
Administrative / Biographical history
The Neofiti fonds is related to the Pia Domus Neophytorum (College of Neophytes) founded by Pope Paul III in 1543 with the aim of ensuring adequate religious training and education for those who converted from Judaism and Islam to Catholicism. Subsequently refunded by Pope Gregory XIII in 1577, the College of Neophytes had come to increase the various collections of manuscripts preserved in the then eastern collections of the Vatican Library, particularly the Vaticani arabi (Arabic manuscripts) and the Vaticani siriaci (Syrian manuscripts).
Access points: locations
Access points: persons, families
Access points: subject terms
Access points: document types
System of arrangement
The units are numbered sequentially.
Access, restrictions
Digital copies of Vaticani ebraici manuscripts are available online:
Finding aids
Links to finding aids
Author of the description
Andrea Cicerchia, 2022
Bibliography
Linked resources
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| Title | Alternate label | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana | Collections (official language of the state) |
| Title | Alternate label | Class |
|---|---|---|
| כתיב (Ktiv) | Existence and location of originals |