The great Hebrew collection, which at present forms so distinguished a
feature in the contents of the Library, was virtually commenced in this
year by the purchase, at Hamburgh (for £2080), of the famous Oppenheimer
library, consisting of upwards of 5000 volumes, of which 780 are
MSS[314]. Many Hebrew works had, it is true, come with Selden's library,
in 1659; but little or nothing had been done since that period to
advance upon that beginning. The additions made in this department from
1844 up to about the year 1857, are said, in Dr. Steinschneider's
introduction to his catalogue (_col._ 50), to have numbered no fewer
than about 2100 volumes[315].
David Oppenheimer, Chief Rabbi at Prague, devoted more than half a
century to the formation of his library. On his death, Sept. 23, 1735,
it came into the possession of his son, a Rabbi at Hildesheim, and
thence into the hands of Isaac Seligmann at Hamburgh. Several catalogues
were issued during this period, the last being one in octavo, at
Hamburgh, in 1826, an index to which, compiled by Dr. J. Goldenthal, was
printed at the expense of the Library in 1845. The collection would have
been dispersed by auction, had it not been bought _en masse_ for Oxford.
It possesses extreme interest and value in the eyes of Jewish students,
insomuch that for a series of years the Library was never without
several foreign visitors engaged in its examination. A very elaborate
catalogue of all the printed Hebrew books contained in it, and
throughout the whole of the Library, was compiled by Dr. M.
Steinschneider during the years 1850-1860, and printed at Berlin, where
it was published in the latter year in a very thick quarto volume. The
book is divided into two parts: the first containing a description of
the Biblical, Talmudical, liturgical and anonymous volumes; the second
containing the works of miscellaneous authors, in the alphabetical order
of their names. Prefixed is a brief list of the Hebrew MSS. in the
Library, with the numbers at present attached to them, and references to
the catalogues in which they are described. Of several rare books in the
Oppenheimer library there are duplicate copies, varying in condition and
ornamentation; of some there are copies on red, yellow, and blue paper.
Distinguished amongst all is a copy of the Talmud, printed in 1713-28,
in twenty-four folio volumes, entirely on vellum. 'Perhaps,' says
Archdeacon Cotton, 'this work is the grandest and most extensive vellum
publication extant[316].'
Mr. Robert Bowyer, miniature painter to Queen Charlotte, who had devoted
a considerable part of his life to the collection of drawings and
engravings illustrating the Holy Scriptures, put forward a proposal for
their purchase by subscription with a view to their being deposited in
the Bodleian. Their number amounted to nearly seven thousand (including
113 drawings by Loutherbourg), described as being in fine condition and
of great value; and they were inserted as additional illustrations in a
copy of Macklin's folio Bible, which was enlarged thereby from its
original extent of seven volumes to forty-five. Hence the collection
passed, and passes, under the name of Bowyer's Bible. Mr. Bowyer, who
had spent upon it upwards of three thousand pounds, proposed to dispose
of it for £2500, and a committee was formed in London, upon which
appeared the names of many distinguished persons, to raise a
subscription for the purpose. But upon Mr. Bowyer's despatching an agent
to Oxford, the matter met with so little encouragement here, the
Librarian, in particular, being (as Dr. Bliss has noted upon his copy of
the original proposal) unfavourable to it, that the project fell to the
ground. The reasons why Oxford made so little response do not appear;
probably the value set upon the collection was deemed to be greatly
exaggerated. After the death of Mr. Bowyer (June 4, 1834, aged
seventy-six) the Bible came into the hands of one Mrs. Parkes, of Golden
Square, by whom it was disposed of, in 1848, in a lottery (together with
a few other prizes) for which four thousand tickets were issued at one
guinea each. The successful speculator was Mr. Saxon, a
gentleman-farmer, near Shepton Mallet. In 1852 it was in the hands of
Messrs. Puttick and Simpson, the well-known book-auctioneers, for sale.
By them it was announced for an auction on Feb. 26, 1853, and was
disposed of, about that time, to Messrs. Willis and Sotheran, the
booksellers, for about £500. Since then it has been announced for sale
at Manchester.
[314] One MS. which had strayed from Oppenheimer's library previously to
its transfer to the Bodleian, was purchased and restored to its place in
1847.
[315] A notice of the Oppenheimer collection, and of the other Hebrew
portions of the Library is given in the preface to vol. iii. of Fürst's
_Bibliotheca Judaica_, 8^o. Leipz. 1863, pp. 42-51. The _Catalogus
Interpretum S. Script._, by Thomas James, in 1635, is here metamorphosed
into one by Thomas _Jones_, in 1735.
[316] _Typographical Gazetteer_, p. 349.