Cloé Boucon (University Lumière, Lyon, Centre Gabriel Naudé (ENSSIB), France)
This communication focuses on the Hebrew books, printed in the Germanic area at the end of the 17th century and during the 18th century, discovered in a genizah (ritual deposit located in a synagogue of sacred books and objects no longer usable) in Phalsbourg, Moselle, France. The plurality of the books’ category: prayer books, Haggadot shel Pessah, Torah, Megillot, Tsene-Rene, commentaries, Mishnayot, and study books; presenting for some of them illustrations liturgical scenes or everyday life representation.
Their provenance from Amsterdam, Fürth, Karlsruhe, Metz to Sulzbach and printed by main publishers and less known in Hebrew, German and Yiddish brings new information of the reading practices : some handwritting inscriptions, ex-libris and bookmark, and the history of the local Jewish community.
The materiality of the books, marks of use, reparation of the books, specially the bindings using some particular techniques and the deposit on the genizah allows a better understanding of this corpus.