• Albert A. List College of Jewish Studies
• William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education
• The Graduate School
• The Rabbinical School
• H.L. Miller Cantorial School and College of Jewish Music
• Summer Sessions

• Subscribe to JTS Emails
• Send to a Friend
• Printer Friendly Version

Library Quick Links

• Search the Library Catalog
• Search the Digital Library
• E-Reserves via Blackboard
• E-Content
• Ebsco A-Z
• Remote Access (for JTS faculty and students)
• Library Research Guides
• Mekorot—Library Reference Blog
• Ask a Judaica Librarian
• WorldCat 

Moritz Steinschneider

Without a thorough and scientific bibliographical record of available printed and manuscript materials, research would be impossible.

The Library honors the centennial of the death of Moritz Steinschneider (1816-1907), the father of modern Hebrew bibliography and one of the founders of the “Science of Judaism” (Wissenschaft des Judentums) with a small exhibition of Steinschneideriana that celebrates the remarkable achievements of this extraordinary scholar.

Steinschneider was one of the most prolific authors in the history of Jewish scholarship, publishing more than 1,400 books and articles on an astonishingly wide array of subjects in several languages. He helped lay the foundation for modern Jewish scholarship to such an extent that it may be said that all contemporary students of Jewish history and culture are his academic progeny. Among his many other scholarly activities, Steinschneider devoted himself to the preparation of library catalogs and subject bibliographies, enabling scholars to publish literary and cultural histories in many languages.

Steinschneider’s library came into the possession of The Library in 1907, having been purchased and donated by the great philanthropist Jacob Schiff. His personal correspondence was received in 1934. Although most of Steinschneider’s working library was consumed in the JTS Library fire of 1966, his personal correspondence, notes, papers, and annotated publications survived and are included in the exhibition.

news