Johannes reuchlin's collection of hebrew books - its afterlife and influence

Abstract

This paper discusses the importance of Reuchlin's Hebrew book collection for Hebrew Studies in Germany (and beyond) and the scientific value of his manuscripts and early prints for Jewish Studies today. It will become clear that the items which are of particular interest are those that are known to have once been part of Reuchlin's library, but were removed and lost at some point in time - either lost completely through physical destruction or lost from the collection in Karlsruhe, but physically preserved at other locations. There seems to be a close correlation in most cases between the disappearance of books and manuscripts and the scholarly interest in these works.