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Article: Karaism and Christian Hebraism: a new document.
- Article from:
- Renaissance Quarterly
- Article date:
- December 22, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 The Renaissance Society of America. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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1. INTRODUCTION
The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, has in its collection a Hebrew letter, written on 29 September 1641, sent by Joannes Stephanus Rittangel (1606-52) to John Selden (1584-1654), prominent English jurist and Christian Hebraist, with a request to help publish Karaite manuscripts that were in Rittangel's possession. (1) This letter is written in a flowery Hebrew style, with lavish encomia for Selden, and its discovery contributes both to our knowledge of the activities of Rittangel--expert in Karaism and Professor Extraordinary of Semitic languages at the University of Koenigsberg--as well as to an appreciation of the ...