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Uncovering UCL’s Jewish Pamphlet Collections: an update

By Vanessa Freedman, on 13 July 2016

The second phase of our  Uncovering UCL’s Jewish Pamphlet Collections project is now well under way.

Conservation

Conservation of the pamphlets that are in very poor condition is continuing. This has included cleaning, repairs, removing glue, replacing spines and making folders for pamphlets that had been disbound.

Digitisation

Selecting items for the digitisation pilot

Selecting items for the digitisation pilot

We have selected ten pamphlets as a pilot batch for digitisation. The pilot will allow us to identify any particular problems in dealing with this material. We have chosen a range of formats and types of material, including pamphlets in Hebrew which open from right to left; pamphlets that are bound with a large number of blank sheets; volumes that include folded pamphlets; volumes that have manuscript items, such as letters, bound in with the pamphlets; and unusual materials, such as a copy of Hyman Hurwitz‘s dirge to be chanted on the day of King George III’s funeral, which is printed on satin.

Cataloguing

We have finished cataloguing the Montefiore Bound Pamphlets, a collection of pamphlets, mostly in Hebrew, from the library of the Judith Lady Montefiore College in Ramsgate, held on deposit from the Montefiore Endowment. We have now moved onto Albert Hyamson’s Zionist pamphlets. Hyamson (1875-1954) was a civil servant, author and historian. His relationship with Zionism was complex. Originally a Zionist, he was appointed as Chief Immigration Officer for Palestine under the British Mandate from 1921-1934. In this role he put into practice the British Government’s restrictive immigration policy and became extremely unpopular with the Zionists. By the time he returned to England in 1934, he had become resolutely anti-Zionist. He wrote a number of works on Zionism, before, during and after his posting in Palestine.

A new member of the team

Monika Biesaga, a PhD student from the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, is joining the project team as a trainee over the summer through the Erasmus+ scheme. Monika is assisting with cataloguing, conservation and digitisation and will also be contributing to this blog.

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