New collection of books on Jewish Art donated to the Samson Judaica Library - at the Oxford University Chabad Society
The Oxford University Chabad Society is pleased to announce the significant expansion of the Samson Judaica Library with a grant of nearly 150 books on Jewish Art by the Samson Family of Toronto. The collection includes books on the full range of subjects related to Jewish Art, including ancient and modern synagogues in Israel and around the world, ceremonial art, Jewish art history: from ancient to modern, Jerusalem, archeology, medals, coins, manuscripts, manuscript illuminations, early printed books, Jewish folk art, biblical art, Chanukiot, the Jerusalem Temple, Ketubot, Hebraica museum collections, modern and historic journals and more. The library also consists of a number of rare items that are out of print and collector's items.
The collection will be integrated into the Samson Judaica Library that already consists of over 3,500 books and will be located at the Slager Jewish student centre in the centre of Oxford. Although Oxford boasts over 100 libraries, making it the largest library system in the UK, the uniqueness of the Samson Judaic library is that it is accessible to all who wish to visit from within and also outside the university community, as well being used by Jewish students and academics for research due to the range and quality of the collections. As an open shelf library, it is also in regular use during the Oxford Chabad Society's popular Friday night Shabbat dinners, regular high profile speakers and social events that take place at the centre.
The Samson Judaica library was established with a grant from the Samson family in 2005 and has since grown into a significant and eclectic library that is part of the fabric and an important asset to Jewish life at Oxford. Past contributions to the library have included a significant collection of books from the library of the late Oxford Taylor Professor of German Language and Literature Professor Siegbert Solomon Prawer FBA, the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, as well as the Jesselson family of New York. The opening of the new collection will be celebrated with a conference on Jewish Art in the winter term and reception in the spring, when Covid regulations are lifted, at the Oxford University Chabad Society.
Mr. Jules Samson, the benefactor of the library, a long standing bibliophile and collector, and who's daughter studied at Oxford as a graduate, commented: 'The background of the collection was my interest in Jewish Art in the 1970s and early 1980s when working on a project. I am very happy that the collection of books has found a new home in Oxford where they will be available to the Oxford Jewish community.'