Stealing Wisdom: A Story of Books (and Book-Thieves) from Immanuel of Rome’s Maḥbarot

One of the most delightful stories in the Maḥbarot of Immanuel of Rome (ca. 1265–1335) is a rhymed-prose narrative relating the encounter of a group of bored young scholars in Perugia with the sealed crates of books belonging to one Rabbi Aaron of Toledo. Rabbi Aaron consigns the barrels into the keeping of these young men and goes blithely off to Rome, thus setting the stage for a story that is not only rich in humor but also a consummate tribute to the power of books and book-learning. The story, fully translated, takes us into the heart of Jewish and Christian book-culture in late medieval Italy, touching on such important topics as the availability of books, the rage for Aristotelian philosophy, and the flow of knowledge from Spain to Italy.