Type of project: Own resources project

Keywords: This project will study books and book collections belonging to Ashkenazi migrants in Italy. Since immigrants from different regions established new living environments here, books from literally all areas of former Jewish settlements have been found in Italy. In the first funding phase, the focus is on medieval and early modern manuscripts as well as early prints that were brought to Italy from Ashkenaz or were produced there by Ashkenazi migrants. In order to grasp the scope of these dynamics and the role of book culture in them, the following categories will be considered: (a) manuscripts produced in Ashkenaz but with owner notes or similar paratexts added in Italy; (b) books copied in Italy for Ashkenazic commissioners or printed with a specifically Ashkenazic readership in mind; (c) book lists that suggest a migration background; and (d) biographical data on individual book owners, scribes, or printers.