Ashkenazic Jews and Their Attitude toward Books as Material Objects in the 16th and 17th Centuries

Key Points

Absence of bibliophilism suggests 16th- and 17th-century Ashkenazic Jews focused more on text than on books as objects.
Inscriptions in approximately 1,400 Hebrew books indicate a strong textual intimacy within Ashkenazic Jewish culture.
Analysis of Rabbi David Oppenheim's collection reveals cultural values surrounding literature in Ashkenazic Jewish society.
Findings emphasize a notable disconnect between text love and material book appreciation in historical context.

Abstract

Abstract Based on an analysis of approximately 1,400 Hebrew printed books from Rabbi David Oppenheim’s collection, housed in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, this article examines the handwritten inscriptions of their owners and users. In the second part, we explore what the nature of these inscriptions reveals about Ashkenazic Jewish society’s relationship to books. The absence of aesthetic sensitivity and, more generally, the lack of what is referred to in non-Jewish culture as bibliophilism – such as the individualization of books through uniform bindings, supralibros, ex libris, and the collector’s interest in amassing books – leads to the conclusion that, while 16th- and 17th-century Ashkenazic Jews undoubtedly demonstrated a strong affinity for the text (what Avriel Bar Levav termed ‘textual intimacy’), they did not display a significant interest in books as material objects.

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