no one likes historians because every time someone says “oh this is unheard of”
historians are all like “well actually”
and fundamentally it just doesn’t sound as impressive if you have to say
“in these slightly precedented times”
Manuscript illustration of a hand with letters and text on it
Painted blue hands with words and diagrams on it, with a Torah scroll in the background
I'm a big fan of Mark Podwal's work, which so often nods to historic bookmaking and art.
On the right, Podwal's "Omer Calendar," on the left, a page from a Sefer 'Evronot ("Book of Calculations," MS X893 Se36) from 17th century Germany showing hand calculations.
Portion of a map with a list of terms and a key in various shapes and colors
Coming back to this because I've been working on preparing the LCAAJ maps for digitization, and they MAPPED the many different methods that people used to document pledges on Shabbat (in Yiddish, here in the unique LCAAJ orthography, of course) @arunviswanath.bsky.social
Screenshot of an Instagram video capturing pope Leo with his mouth open in astonishment
Pop Leo asked if he should put on gloves to turn pages in the gorgeous Renaissance Bible and the librarian explained why it’s better to do so with bare hands. Glorious reaction.
Every rare books librarian & archivist feeling very seen, I gather. www.instagram.com/reel/DUcpEBY... #BookHistory
Went to pull Pieter van der Cun's De republyk der Hebreen
(Amsterdam, 1701-4) for our class next week on Christian Hebraism and was once again stunned by the gorgeous colored and gilded pages. Here are a few for your enjoyment.
B893.11 C911
We have the Christian Hebraist session coming up on our Jewish books class in a couple of weeks - that was my deadline to read it because you KNOW the Antwerp will be on the table...it's just a question of whether it's the OT volume or the later one with all of the grammar - not enough space!
Photo of Hebrew matrices
Title page: Multiplicity of Scripture
It's taken far too long, but I'm so glad that I finally sat down to read @theodunkelgrun.bsky.social's incredible book on the Plantin Polyglot. It's on so much more than that - a whole chapter on Bomberg (those matrices 😍) lots on the burning of the Talmud/beginning of expurgation, & so much more!
Absolutely :)
They were all so very different! Corfu also was different than the rest of Greece because it was under Venice for so many years, so there's a TON of Italian influence in a way that you don't really see with places like Salonica or Ioannina.
Here's my new blog post about Jewish dance cards and a recent UCL bicentennial event where we learned Edwardian ballroom dances from a Jewish dance card in @uclhjslibrary.bsky.social to the same tunes that were performed in 1909. #UCL200
In partnership with @uclhjs.bsky.social and the UCL IJS.
Yeah, I see Yehuda as well. Noam Sienna's the expert on these.
I had a fascinating interaction with a Greek government official at the exhibit where he told me he grew up in the former Jewish quarter and NEXT DOOR to an Auschwitz survivor but had known nothing about the 1000 years of thriving before the late 19th century..
OOOOH Corfu Jewish history is amazing. But very little of it is there (although the Athens Jewish Museum has some nice things). All modern Corfiates know about the Jews there is unfortunately how they were killed.
Columbia/JTS exhibit here: exhibitions.library.columbia.edu/exhibits/sho...
An initial-word panel with a head, and a hare marking the beginning of Torah portion Bo (בֹּא)
#ParashahPictures
BL Add MS 15423; Torah; Italy (Florence); 1441-1467 CE; f.41v
Sure looks like Hebrew characters on that binding label..
Torah scroll, c. 17th century.
Cuneiform Tablet, 2060 BCE
Ivdaea Capta coins, minted after the fall of Jerusalem
NBD, just pulling some ancient (actually ancient, for those who know how I feel about that word!) objects for the Jewish Books class that starts in a few weeks :) 📚📜😍
Not shown: the Aramaic Ostracon that probably dates to the 5th century BCE.
Illustration from a medieval manuscript showing a figure in armor operating a large crossbow, with a humorous modern caption "when you've been invited to a meeting that could have been an email." The background includes detailed floral designs.
Big Monday energy 😅
#MedievalMonday
Shelfmark: MS. Bodl. 264
The AJL Jewish Fiction Award Committee is seeking two new members. Immerse yourself in the vibrant field of contemporary Jewish fiction, connect with and learn from a group of wise and committed colleagues, and honor outstanding writers.
Details at jewishlibraries.org/....
I can only ask, "Why are hearts so hardened?"
Beth Israel Congregation, Mississippi’s largest synagogue was firebombed. The Ku Klux Klan bombed it in 1967 because the rabbi supported civil rights. It was a stop on the Freedom Trail.
AAJR Baron Book Prize. Deadline: 31 January, 2026.
#jewishstudies
mjsnow.hypotheses.org/20210
Yes! She's excellent, but also not here.
*Katrin, not Kathryn!
Definitely theirs!!
Anyone in my orbit specifically on Bluesky studying medieval Jewish illuminated mss?
Not on this app, that I can think of off-hand, unfortunately, but I'll repost as well. But Evelyn Cohen and Kathryn Kogman-Appel are the immediate ones that come to mind - do you have specific questions? There's a ton that's been published in this area (and TONS more to do!)
CFP: Jewish Literature under Muslim Rule: Textual Transformations and Inter-Religious Encounters, 14–16 April 2026, Munich.
#jewishstudies
mjsnow.hypotheses.org/20136
Scholars affiliated with the Midrash Project embarked on a “transcribe-a-thon,” using eScriptorium, an AI platform tailored for use on historical manuscripts.
religionnews.com/2025/12/17/a...
Image of the front cover of the binding, with a hand on it for scale
Every 15th-century book was printed on paper stock from one of a handful of fixed sizes. The largest of these measured about 50 x 70 cm. The sheets used to print this book, when manufactured, fell outside that range at a fairly colossal 56 x 70 cm and so thick as to almost feel like leather. 3/8