Solomon Ibn Gabirol: A Bibliography of His Poems in Translation (review)

Hebrew Studies 41 (2000) 341 Reviews hic and midrashic fragments and their publication history from the time of their discovery through the present. Danzig emphasizes that the publication of medieval Rabbinic literature (Sifrut Rabbanit) from the Genizah is still in its infancy (tehilat darko) (p. 29) and the difficulties involved in the collection and publication of .. this material. He then focuses upon the materials within the Jewish Theological Seminary of America collections. emphasizing the Adler collection. and concludes by categorizing the material by genre. This exceptional introduction is carefully annotated. and provides a very useful access to the study of the Genizah as a whole. A short sixteen page English summary of the Hebrew introduction is provided. I hope that Danzig will translate the full Hebrew introduction at some future date. The various documents are carefully indexed. and make this an extremely useful and usable volume. This type of collection may be even more useful. however. as a computer database. This database is available through the Lieberman Institute of the Jewish Theological Seminary. A Catalog of Fragments of Halakhah and Midrash from the Cairo Genizah in the Elkan Nathan Adler Collection ofthe Library oflhe Jewish Theological Seminary of America should be purchased by every research library that collects deeply in classical Judaic Studies. Steven Fine University ofCincinnati Cincinnati, OH 45221 Steven.fine@uc.edu SOLOMON IBN GABIROL: A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF HIS POEMS IN TRANSLATION. By Isaac Goldberg. Washington, D.C.: Word Works. 1998. The field of medieval Hebrew poetry has occupied a marginal position within bibliographical works dedicated to medieval Jewish studies. Thus the volume Bibliographical Essays in Medieval Jewish Studies (New York: Ktav Publishing and Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, 1976) contains thorough essays on history and philosophy, but offers no essay on medieval Hebrew literature. References to literature are sometimes included within the other essays, but the field of literature remains ancillary to the more dominant disciplines. Given this. Isaac Goldberg's A Bibliography oflhe Poelry ofIbn Gabirol in Translation represents a great step for- Hebrew Studies 41 (2000) 342 Reviews ward in introducing medieval Hebrew literature into the core of Jewish studies and in opening doors to scholars of medieval literature and history in general. The bibliography is an important research aid and is especially welcome to those of us who teach medieval Hebrew literature to students with limited or no knowledge of Hebrew. At last teachers may answer a student's query whether a poem by Ibn Gabirol has been translated with a quick glance at Goldberg's impressive index. Including materials in a surprising number of languages (Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Judeo-Arabic, Judeo-Gennan, Judeo-Spanish, Latin, Marathi, Polish, Portuguese, Rumanian Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish, Swedish, and Yiddish), the bibliography fills gaps left by bibliographical compilations as extensive as Ezra Fleischer's notes to Jeflffi Schirmann's The History of Hebrew Poetry in Muslim Spain (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1995) and The History of Hebrew Poetry in Christian Spain and Southern France (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1997), which include sparse references to translations and secondary studies in languages other than Hebrew. Goldberg's bibliography also includes many citations that cannot be found through databases such as RAMBI. Goldberg'S bibliography opens with a short biographical introduction on Ibn Gabirol followed by a select glossary of technical terms. The bibliography is then divided by language (Dutch, English, French, etc.); within each language are listed anthologies of poetry, books, book reviews, critical articles, essays, and dissertations. The two indice~ne organized according to Latin characters, the other according to Hebrew characters-are very useful and well organized. If one knows the Hebrew title of a poem, one can quickly determine whether it has been translated, in whole or in part, or discussed in any of the citations included in the bibliography. Titles of poems are also listed in the Latin character index according to nonHebrew title, usually as designated by the translator. The indices also include names and works of modem scholars. A select number of subjects are included in the Latin character index (in English) although the addition of standard themes (e.g., nature, eulogy, panegyric, etc.) would increase the bibliography...