Harvard University has acquired the library of Ephraim Deinard, father-in-law of Rabbi Mendel Silber, both of New Orleans. One of the largest, most complete and most valuable collections of Hebrew books and manuscripts to be found in private possession anywhere in the world, Mr. Deinard’s library was much sought after. On many occasions a duplicate volume supplied an urgent request from the British Museum in London.
Ill health and loss of eyesight caused Mr. Deinard, now in his eighties, to give up the 12,000 volumes he had collected through years of travel in Europe and the Orient. At Harvard the books will constitute the “Deinard Collection,” just as does the section on Semitic literature in the Library of Congress in Washington.
Included in the collection are 65 volumes by Mr. Deinard, himself, incunabula of which the first Hebrew book printed—Tur Hoshen Mishpat—is one, and 21 volumes published in Piove di Sacco in 1475 are others; 25 volumes of half-incunabula; 500 volumes of First Editions and exceedingly rare prints, Talmud, Lexica and thousands of others as valuable.
Previous to the foundation of the “Deinard Collection” in the Library of Congress, Mr. Deinard made one of the many trips he has taken throughout the civilized world in search of Semitic books. This journey was sponsored by the United States government.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
