The Collaboration of the Christian Hebraist Johann Albrecht Widmanstetter with his Scribes

So far, Scholars of Christian Hebraism have focused their attention on the interpretations of Jewish texts received at the hands of Christians. What has often escaped their analysis is the importance of the scribes who supplied the material necessary for the various products of this newly found interest in Jewish literature, ranging from polemical attacks on Judaism to kabbalistic reinterpretations of Christian dogma. Thus, the appropriation of Hebrew literature by Christian scholars in the Early Modern Period is unthinkable without collaboration with the Jewish side.

Using the example of the Hebraist library of Johann Albrecht Widmanstetter (1506-1557) this lecture will give insight into this important interface between Jewish and Christian culture. Widmanstetter`s library was the envy of his Christian contemporaries who admired not only the its extent but even more Widmanstetter`s intimate knowledge of its contents.

Between 1538 and 1554 Widmanstetter ordered nine manuscript copies, most of which are based on exemplars from the library of Cardinal Egidio da Viterbo, one of the leading Christian Kabbalists of his generation. These copies were made by two Jewish scribes Ḥayyim Gatigno and Moshe Gad ben Tuvia and two converts, Paulus Aemilius and Francesco Parnas.

Through diligent analysis of the manuscripts I will demonstrate the circumstances of their production, the nature of Widmanstetter`s collaboration with his scribes and especially his attitude towards his Jewish scribes. I will then analyze the scribal practices employed by each of the scribes, how they copied, emended and even restructured the entire text according to Widmanstetter`s wishes.