S. D. Goitein and the Genizah Collections at Cambridge University Library

It is well known that Professor S D Goitein had a major impact on Genizah research and publication from as early as a visit by him to Cambridge University Library in 1954 during a four-month research project on the Genizah collections in England. In addition, what has not yet been analysed is the degree to which he was closely involved in the plans for the establishment of the Genizah Research Unit at Cambridge University Library in 1973 and in touch with the Unit from then until his death in 1985. It emerges that he corresponded regularly with the Unit during those years about his work on the later volumes of A Mediterranean Society. He also visited the Library to obtain fresh Genizah material as it was being newly sorted and conserved and contributed personally to the classifying of such material, especially in the newly available ‘Taylor-Schechter Additional Series’. He provided lists of his identifications which were of value both for the ongoing volumes of his Mediterranean Society and for the Unit’s plans. He also offered advice on a number of the Unit’s proposals and projects. My paper will utilize the correspondence files at the Cambridge University Library for documenting his role in all these developments and assessing its scholarly importance. This presentation will be made in the context of a session devoted to the fiftieth anniversary of the appearance of the first volume of A Mediterranean Society.