31.8.10

Nerd Alert!

I had a total nerd breakdown today when I went to see JTS's rare book collection in their library. They have over 11,000 actual manuscripts! Primary sources galore!!!!!! I just about died as the cutest and most knowledgeable old man ever pulled out book after book after book of 9th century manuscripts, the Genoa polyglot bible, a Czar Alexander III nobility paper for a Jewish physician (complete with his actual signature and official seal!!!!!), and little tiny personal scrolls (some of the oldest in existence!!!). Holy crap, it was the most fantastic thing I've ever seen and it is the single largest collection of original manuscripts of Jewish history, if not in the world, at least in the whole United States. I'm pretty sure it's the most extensive in the world. JTS's library is the most extensive collection of Jewish literature outside of Israel.

It was super awesome. Ok, I just had to nerd out. O^O

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