A Treasured Legacy: Hebrew Manuscripts at the Bodleiana

The collection of three thousand Hebrew manuscripts at the Bodleian Library in Oxford is the largest in the United Kingdom. These manuscripts arrived at the Bodleiana over three centuries, from the first manuscripts collected by Christian Hebraists of the seventeenth century down to the various acquisitions during the nineteenth century. A catalogue compiled by Adolf Neubauer over eighteen years and published in 1886 is marred by serious flaws, mostly in the classification of the manuscripts and the indexes. By contrast the Supplement of Malachi Beit-Arie (I994), allows the researcher to underline the advances in Hebrew codicology and palaeography achieved since 1886.