The collection of the Swiss collector René Braginsky is generally considered to be the largest private collection of Hebrew manuscripts in the world. It also contains a fair number of fine early printed books. The collection does not only contain codices, but also several hundreds illuminated marriage contracts and Esther scrolls.[1]
The oldest manuscript in the collection is the 1288 legal code of rabbinic scholar Moses of Coucy.[2]
The collection has been exhibited at the Jewish Museum of Switzerland (2003-2004), at the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana, the Judaica and Hebraica Special Collections Division of the University of Amsterdam, (2009–2010), at the Yeshiva University Museum in New York (2010), the Israel Museum in Jerusalem[1] (2010–2011), at the Swiss National Museum in Zurich (2011–2012) and at the Jewish Museum in Berlin (2014).
Books
edit- A Journey through Jewish Worlds: Highlights from the Braginsky Collection of Hebrew Manuscripts and Printed Books, Evelyn M. Cohen, Emile Schrijver, Sharon Mintz, Waanders Publishers, 2010.
- Schöne Seiten: Jüdische Schriftkultur aus der Braginsky Collection, Emile Schrijver, Falk Wiesemann, Scheidegger & Spiess, 2011.