A printed book and a manuscript codex may contain the same text, but
one can argue that the latter is inherently richer. The printing press
produced a multitude of identical copies, but each manuscript is unique
and individual. In a manuscript, each page had to be carefully prepared
and every letter required painstaking work. Ultimately, each
manuscript contains more than just the text within it. Isaac
Mendelsohn, author of the first catalog of the Hebrew manuscripts at
Columbia, wrote, “An old Hebrew book is...more than a mere collection of
bound sheets on which a given text is [written]. The notes on the
flyleaves, the remarks on the margins the names of its various owners,
and the countries in which it saw service actually make it into two
books - one containing the text, the passive part, and the other the
history of the persons who owned and used it.”
This exhibition attempts to show the second kind of book: the book that tells a story about its authors, its owners, and its users. Occasionally, the story is found within the main portion of the text, but it is also found in the paratext: in the wine stains on a Passover Haggadah, in the candle wax in a prayer book, or in an odd notation on a title page or in a colophon. On a journey through the exhibit, it is our hope that visitors will find at least one story that inspires, intrigues, or ignites the imagination.
view the online exhibit ...
This exhibition attempts to show the second kind of book: the book that tells a story about its authors, its owners, and its users. Occasionally, the story is found within the main portion of the text, but it is also found in the paratext: in the wine stains on a Passover Haggadah, in the candle wax in a prayer book, or in an odd notation on a title page or in a colophon. On a journey through the exhibit, it is our hope that visitors will find at least one story that inspires, intrigues, or ignites the imagination.
view the online exhibit ...
