I catalogue and research the provenance of early printed Hebraica and Judaica, with special interest in sixteenth- to eighteenth-century English Christian Hebraist collections. I am currently organising an international one-day conference on 500 Years of Hebrew Teaching, Hebrew Studies and Hebrew Collecting in Oxford that will take place on Monday, 24 October 2022. The conference will also see the launch of my exhibition Quenching Curiosity: Unusual Hebrew Books at Christ Church. My 2017 EAJS conference with the title Jewish Books and their Christian Collectors in Europe, the New World and Czarist Russia coincided with the exhibition Jewish Books and their Christian Readers: Christ Church Connections.
Qualifications
MA, MA, PhD (UCL)
Academic Background
I read Theology for my first degree, specialising on the Hebrew Bible but my other strengths include Ancient Greek and Latin patristic literature. In 2002-2003 I spent a year at Paideia, The European Institute for Jewish Studies in Sweden as a Martin Buber Fellow. In London I obtained a professional qualification in library studies (MA, Information Services Management). I hold a doctorate in Jewish Studies (UCL), specialising in medieval Ashkenazi Bibles.
Research Interests
My academic interests include Hebrew micrography and illuminated medieval Hebrew manuscripts, medieval Jewish history; codicology and palaeography and early printed Hebrew books. I have published in these areas, as well as translated fictional works from Hebrew.
For more details, visit my personal site http://rahelfronda.hebrewmicrography.com