Remember last year when I complained about the HUC-Jerusalem library, saying its collection wasn't very impressive?
It's the exact opposite at HUC-Cincinnati, which is known for having the best Judaica library in the world outside of one in Israel. First thing this morning in my Rabbinics class we took a trip to the Rare Book Room. 8am and I was as wide awake as I'll ever get. I touched the pages of one of the very first Mishnahs printed in 1492. It's printed on handmade linen paper and feels almost like cloth. I held a Talmud printed in the 1500s with a pigskin binding. I lifted up the tissue paper to examine the red, yellow, and blue illustrations on a handwritten manuscript from the 1400s. And for the crowning touch, I saw a leaf of the GUTENBERG BIBLE! (read here for info). Were it not for the presence of so many other people, I would have squeed like a fangirl.
But, oh, how wonderful, I get to do research here! I browsed the stacks today in search of information for my High Holiday sermons and got a bit lost, to tell the truth. There's more Hebrew books than I could ever begin to understand, and German, and French, and Italian, and reprints of things in Latin and Greek, and I'm sure many other languages I didn't even see. Lo and behold, I came home with a very heavy backpack and plenty of "light" reading material for later. Hermione cracks, begin now...
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
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8 comments:
You blow me away, Michal. When I hear your passion about the Gutenberg Bible, I wonder how you inherited that in your gene pool!
One of my favorite hangouts in California, was the Huntington Library in San Marino, where there is on display a part of the Gutenberg Bible! It raised gooseflesh just looking at it... as did original handwritten letters by Abraham Lincoln, poems by Edgar Alan Poe, etc...Who knew you cared too????? Were you ever inside the Huntington Library? I do remember when you were a baby and had to sit outside in the stroller while we grownups viewed the wonders within, because young children weren't admitted. When you get back to California to visit, you MUST go to the Huntington Library. It has an amazing collection of art and paintings, breathtaking gardens, and the biggest collection of desert flora anywhere.
yer Savta
Your library sounds amazing!! We have a rare book room, but I have a sneaky suspicion that the books are so rare that they don't actually exist in there.
I miss you michal (and jonathan!) I had a happy surprise today when i discovered JAN at the front desk of the library filling out employment papers!!!
No kidding Savta, I had no idea you'd seen it! And no again, I've never been to the Huntington Library. I'll be sure to get there when I come home to visit.
And Mara, LOL you might be right! I've never seen the Rare Book Room either. You can ask Sheryl, or yeah, now my mom! She told me she saw you, Rebecca and Miriam yesterday - I said, they don't need to come to your house for lunch, you can just hang out at work! And Jonathan and I miss you too. Let's talk on the phone.
NEWS FLASH!!! The rare books DO EXIST in the RBR (library lingo..LOL...Rare Book Room) and I got goosebumps when Yaffa showed them to me!!!
Love,
Mom
Yup - nothing compared to Cincy's collection, but we do have some really amazing books and manuscripts hidden away in the back.
Some days, this job is just a job. Other days, its just a thrill to be able to handle our treasures.
I'd like to be able to say its fun having Jan around - but I've barely seen her! Her first day, I had taken off so I could be home for the kids' first day at school and then her second day, I spent the morning at tefilot (a friend's 4th year sermon) Maybe today we'll actually spend time together.
Mom and Sheryl, who knows? Maybe you'll end up hanging out more at canasta than at work! :)
Never been to the Huntington Library, Michal! I'm disappointed. As a transplanted Californian (from Utah, no less) I visited the library at least 5 times in 6 years. You've got some catching up to do :)
No way, Becca! *hangs head in shame*
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