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JEWISH BOOK ANNUAL
I turn now from booksellers to the bibliophiles who are no
longer with us and with whom I was personally acquainted. I was
deeply impressed by two such individuals who differed in back
ground, character and position. I had the privilege o f meeting
Salman Schocken, a collector o f vision and imagination who was a
singular man o f initiative and executive ability. His conversation
and conduct attested to a developed bibliophilic sense and a love
o f the rare book. He was aided by the late A.M. Habermann, who
with deep knowledge and devotion helped him amass a rich
library, which is among the most beautiful and valuable in the
world. The Schocken Library has long outgrown its function as a
private collection and today fulfills an important role in fostering
research and learning.
A collector o f another stamp and type was Yosef Gershon
Horovitz, the rabbi o f Meah Shearim. He was a proficient scholar,
possessed o f fine qualities and a humble nature. He had a great
love o f Jews, and o f people generally; his tolerance in matters o f
opinion and belief was truly remarkable. As a collector, he was
distinguished by wide knowledge and good taste. O f limited
financial means, he would purchase also many incomplete books,
earning him the title, “ King o f the Genizot.” His library was rich
and varied: it consisted in the main o f halakhic works and
responsa, but also contained other categories like biblical com
mentaries and historical works, and even some Haskalah books
which were kept out o f sight. Here and there were valuable rare
books, bibliophic “gems” like the first edition o f
Ha-Tsion,
1549,
copies o f which had been practically all destroyed by fire. I spent
many hours in his company, and I felt great admiration for this
remarkable Jew.
An exceptional specialized library was built by the late Profes
sor Gershon Scholem. He was aided by an unusual bibliophilic
sense, by wide technical knowledge and planned systematic work.
His collection contains practically all the works o f Kabbalah and
Hasidism in both rare and new editions, the scholarly literature
on these subjects, as well as the polemical writings concerning
them. This library has become a valuable and unique cultural
institution which has seldom been matched. After Scholem’s
death it was transferred to the Jewish National and University
Library.
IV