Uncovering UCL’s Jewish Pamphlet Collections

We have just started work on an exciting project to uncover a hidden treasure in UCL Special Collections: the Jewish pamphlets….The first phase of the project will take place over the next 12 months, and will involve cataloguing some 4,000 pamphlets from the Mocatta and De Sola collections. These collections formed part of the Mocatta Library, which was jointly founded by UCL and the Jewish Historical Society of England in 1906, after the philanthropist and bibliophile Frederic David Mocatta left his vast library to the Society. Mocatta’s collection was enriched by other donations and purchases in the early 20th century, becoming one of the finest and most comprehensive Jewish Studies libraries in the United Kingdom. Tragically, the library was destroyed by bombing in 1940; only the rarest books, pamphlets and manuscripts survived, having been moved to Wales for safekeeping.

Read Vanessa Freedman’s blog entry at UCL’s Hebrew and Jewish Studies blog