Letter from Wiener, Leo to Morais, Sabato. Cambridge, MA; Apr 1897
- Title
- Letter from Wiener, Leo to Morais, Sabato. Cambridge, MA; Apr 1897
- Date Created
- 8 April 1897
- Format
- 4 pages on 1 sheet
- Language(s)
- English
- Source
- Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies
- Sabato Morais Collection, Box 7, Folder 11
- Has Format
- https://colenda.library.upenn.edu/items/ark:/81431/p3z893130/manifest.json
- Link to Colenda
- https://colenda.library.upenn.edu/catalog/81431-p3z893130
- Provenance
- Transfer of Custody from the Hebrew Education Society, 10 March 1913.
- Is Format Of
- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/judaicadh/morais/main/TEI/SMBx7FF11_11.xml
- content
-
Harvard University
Cambridge.
24 Leonard Ave.
April 8, 1897
Dear Sir,
I take the liberty of handing you a complete copy of the reprint of my article on the Ferrara Bible. My occupation with Judaeo-Spanish has come to a temporary stop through my appointment to the instructor-ship in the Slavic Languages, but I expect some day to proceed in the investigation of the language and literature of the Spanish Jews.
I wish to consult you on the feasib-ility of approaching the Portuguese (Spanish) Jews of America with a view of obtaining a gift of money for the Harvard Univer-sity Library with which to make a complete collection of works touching the language, literature and History of the Spanish Jews. This is an age of special collections of libraries, and America, through its accumulated wealth and the public spirit of its citizens, is at present leading in this movement. It is only within the last decade that Cornell has created the finest Dante collection outside of Italy, and the finest Rumunsch Library in the world. Harvard has just started a Slavic collection,
and so forth. I should like to see Harvard University doing something for the important and interesting study of the Spanish Jews; this will naturally occur when it will possess the facilities for such work. This University is eminently fitted to be the promoter of investigations in this line, both on account of the liberal spirit of the institution, and its nearness to the Boston Public Library which contains the largest and best (Ticknor's) Spanish Library in America. I should, therefore, hail it as a piece of good luck for the University, and the Spanish Jews of America as well, if it were possible to buy up all works mentioned in Kayserling's Biblioteca Española-Portugueza-
Judaica, and others not given there. I am sure there are enough public spirited Jews in this country who would be willing to give a sum of $10.000, or more or less, to perpetuate their name in so worthy a cause. The history and language of their forefathers and brothers in the diaspora has been sadly neglected, and it is time, something should be done for them. Some wealthy New York Jews, whose name I do not just now remember, have earned a grateful memory at Harvard for their large gifts to the Semitic Department, and I hope the Spanish Jews may be able to do some-thing too. Can you advise me in the matter? Yours sincerely Leo Wiener
Dr. S. Morais - Identifier
- p3z893130
- identifier
- SMBx7FF11_11
Part of Letter from Wiener, Leo to Morais, Sabato. Cambridge, MA; Apr 1897
Wiener, Leo and Morais, Sabato, “Letter from Wiener, Leo to Morais, Sabato. Cambridge, MA; Apr 1897”, Sabato Morais Digital Repository, accessed October 18, 2024, https://judaicadhpenn.org/legacyprojects/s/morais/item/90862