Colette Sirat is Professor at the École Pratique des Hautes Études, Department of History and Philology, and head of the Hebrew Department, Institut de Recherche et d'Histoire des Textes, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris.

'From the mundane to the sublime - there is something for everyone … in these well-illustrated pages … an elegantly produced and superb introduction to the study of Hebrew manuscripts, their scribes, and their contents that will enlighten students and scholars alike … a book written by a master of the material with a sensitive eye and a sharp reed … a tribute to the book making craft and Cambridge University Press should be praised for its aesthetic production.' The Jewish Studies Newsletter

• Introduction; Part I. Texts: 1. Before the Middle Ages; 2. The Middle Ages; Part II. Books: 3. Codicology; 4. Writing: calligraphic and personal subjects; 5. The scribe; Appendix. Abbreviations, acrostics and the meaning of the Hebrew letters; Part III. The History of Books and Texts: 6. The life and death of manuscripts; 7. Libraries; 8. Questions of method: codicology and palaeography; 9. Texts, copies and text-editions; 10. Judgement on readings and the edition of texts; Part IV. Some Manuscripts: 11. Ten manuscripts: pictures and detailed descriptions.

Colette Sirat is Professor at the École Pratique des Hautes Études, Department of History and Philology, and head of the Hebrew Department, Institut de Recherche et d'Histoire des Textes, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris.

'From the mundane to the sublime - there is something for everyone … in these well-illustrated pages … an elegantly produced and superb introduction to the study of Hebrew manuscripts, their scribes, and their contents that will enlighten students and scholars alike … a book written by a master of the material with a sensitive eye and a sharp reed … a tribute to the book making craft and Cambridge University Press should be praised for its aesthetic production.' The Jewish Studies Newsletter

• Introduction; Part I. Texts: 1. Before the Middle Ages; 2. The Middle Ages; Part II. Books: 3. Codicology; 4. Writing: calligraphic and personal subjects; 5. The scribe; Appendix. Abbreviations, acrostics and the meaning of the Hebrew letters; Part III. The History of Books and Texts: 6. The life and death of manuscripts; 7. Libraries; 8. Questions of method: codicology and palaeography; 9. Texts, copies and text-editions; 10. Judgement on readings and the edition of texts; Part IV. Some Manuscripts: 11. Ten manuscripts: pictures and detailed descriptions.

Colette Sirat is Professor at the École Pratique des Hautes Études, Department of History and Philology, and head of the Hebrew Department, Institut de Recherche et d'Histoire des Textes, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris.

'From the mundane to the sublime - there is something for everyone … in these well-illustrated pages … an elegantly produced and superb introduction to the study of Hebrew manuscripts, their scribes, and their contents that will enlighten students and scholars alike … a book written by a master of the material with a sensitive eye and a sharp reed … a tribute to the book making craft and Cambridge University Press should be praised for its aesthetic production.' The Jewish Studies Newsletter

• Introduction; Part I. Texts: 1. Before the Middle Ages; 2. The Middle Ages; Part II. Books: 3. Codicology; 4. Writing: calligraphic and personal subjects; 5. The scribe; Appendix. Abbreviations, acrostics and the meaning of the Hebrew letters; Part III. The History of Books and Texts: 6. The life and death of manuscripts; 7. Libraries; 8. Questions of method: codicology and palaeography; 9. Texts, copies and text-editions; 10. Judgement on readings and the edition of texts; Part IV. Some Manuscripts: 11. Ten manuscripts: pictures and detailed descriptions.