Hebrew manuscripts are considered to be invaluable documents and artefacts of Jewish culture
and history. Research on Hebrew manuscript culture is progressing rapidly and therefore its
topics methods and questions need to be enunciated and reflected upon. The case studies
assembled in this volume explore various fields of research on Hebrew manuscripts. They show
paradigmatically the current developments concerning codicology and palaeography book forms
like the scroll and codex scribes and their writing material patrons collectors and censors
manuscript and book collections illuminations and fragments and last but not least new
methods of material analysis applied to manuscripts. The principal focus of this volume is the
material and intellectual history of Hebrew book cultures from antiquity to the Middle Ages and
Early Modern Period its intention being to heighten and sharpen the reader's understanding of
Jewish social and cultural history in general.
