Hi there Safranim I am seeking your advice, and I somehow think there was a discussion on this subject not too long ago. There is a large collection of sforim, could be close to one thousand, at our oldest synagogue. The books belonged to the Jewish immigrants from Lithuania and include Gemores with Yiddish Taytsh, Mikro'es Gedolos, Khumeshim, prayerbooks from Vilna, Redelheim, Prague, etc. The most common place of publication is probably Vilna, reflecting the Lithuanian origin of South African Jewry.
David Goldenberg (formerly of U. Penn, Dropsie, one time editor of the Jewish Quarterly Review) has been going through this collection with me, and advises me that while there is nothing that is very valuable, there is still quite a lot that is of interest. I have already selected items for the Jewish Studies Library, that included books distributed by the Jewish Cultural Reconstruction after the Second World War and items of specific bibliographic interest, such as works with an early Haskalah influence, etc. Nonetheless a lot remains. There is no understanding or interest in these books in South Africa. They are in very poor condition, and though they were once preserved in drawers and cupboards, they are now in boxes. Would an antiquarian bookseller in the U.S. be interested in acquiring them, and how could this be arranged? Otherwise I guess eventually they will be buried as sheymes. A Freylekhn Khanike/ A Happy Channukah Veronica Belling Veronica Belling Jewish Studies Library University of Cape Town Private Bag X3 Rondebosch 7701 South Africa Tel. 021-6503779 Fax. 021-6505151 Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) =========================================================== Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: Hasafran @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: Listproc @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: galron.1 @ osu.edu Ha-Safran Archives: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html History: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/history.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org
