From Catalonia to Yemen: Hebrew Manuscript Fragments and Jewish Bookbindings in the NYPL and around the World with Leor Jacobi (Bar-Ilan University)

Hebrew manuscript fragments have recently been discovered in NYPL collection book bindings. These will be presented, identified and discussed in comparison with book bindings and Hebrew fragments from around the world. Two distinct regions with different book production and binding methods will be analyzed: Sefarad (Spain) and the Mediterranean zone, culturally linked to the Islamic world, as opposed to Christian regions of Ashkenaz (Germany) and Northern Europe on the other.

Leor Jacobi is a researcher of medieval art and rabbinic literature who teaches at Bar-Ilan University, where he serves as an editor of the Department of Jewish Art’s academic journal: Ars Judaica. He has published and lectured widely around the world on the topic of medieval falconry and maintains a focus on Jewish bookbinding craft in medieval Catalonia and Hebrew manuscript fragments extracted from these bindings. Leor was previously awarded Postdoctoral Fellowships by Humboldt Stiftung and the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture. Currently, his research is supported by the American Philosophical Society.