101 Treasures from the National Library of Israel by Raquel Ukeles, Hezi Amiur, Yoel Finkelman, Stefan Litt, Samuel Thrope

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The National Library of Israel is one of the country’s most beloved cultural institutions. To celebrate the opening of its new building, the Library’s curators and collections experts selected 101 of the most precious items in the Library’s collection, and published this magnificent coffee table book.

Readers will find beautiful images of 1,500 years worth of items including manuscripts, books, periodicals, archives, maps, posters, photographs, music, and recent digital acquisitions. Many of the pieces have never been seen before.

Accompanying each piece is a story that explains the context of the item and the intriguing people behind them. It’s a journey throughout history, through time and place. This is a beautiful gift for anyone who loves history, archives and Israel.

Highlights

• The library holds more than 5 million volumes of books, manuscripts, and periodicals, as well as archives, maps, music, ephemera, and photographs, and is dedicated to building comprehensive collections of Judaica and Israeliana, and world-class research collections in Islam & the Middle East and the Humanities.
• The Library’s digital channels receive approximately 12 million visitors every year.

Description

This fascinating and inspirational new volume provides a thematic journey through the rich and diverse collections of the National Library of Israel and the Jewish people worldwide. Selected by the Library’s curators and collections experts, this fine-art volume presents 101 of the most precious items in the Library’s collections, from 5th century Babylonia to modern-day Tel Aviv, and shares illuminating stories and anecdotes about these significant works and the intriguing people behind them. Highlights include Maimonides’ autograph copy of his Commentary on the Mishna; the “Damascus Crowns,” including a vitally important 10th century Hebrew Bible codex; theological ruminations of Isaac Newton; love poetry by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent; manuscripts from leading Jewish and Israeli writers, such as Martin Buber, Stefan Zweig, Franz Kafka, Naomi Shemer, and Shai Agnon; and rare materials documenting Israeli history. High-quality photographs illustrate the stories, and the introduction sets these collections within their cultural and historical context.

* Promoted content

Year first published: 2023

The book's page at the publisher's site