Heimann (Hayyim) Michael (April 12, 1792 – June 10, 1846) was a
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
bibliographer
Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliography ...
born at
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
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. He showed great acuteness of mind in early childhood, had a phenomenal memory, and was an indefatigable student. He studied
Talmudics and received private instruction in all the branches of a regular school education. He was a born
bibliophile
Bibliophilia or bibliophilism is the love of books. A bibliophile or bookworm is an individual who loves and frequently reads and/or collects books.
Profile
The classic bibliophile is one who loves to read, admire and collect books, often ama ...
, and began to collect valuable works when still a boy of twelve. With his progress in
Hebrew literature his love for books increased also, the result of which was his magnificent library of 862 manuscripts and 5,471 printed works, covering all branches of Hebrew literature. There were few books in his collection which he had not read, and he undertook the preparation of a full catalog of it. As far as he accomplished this task, it was the foundation of the ''Ozerot Hayyim, Katalog der Michael'schen Bibliothek'', Hamburg, 1848.
Michael took an interest not only in
Jewish literature
Jewish literature includes works written by Jews on Jewish themes, literary works written in Jewish languages on various themes, and literary works in any language written by Jewish writers. Ancient Jewish literature includes Biblical literature ...
, but in all the intellectual movements of the day, as is shown by the large number of contemporary books and leaflets found in his library. He never wrote directly for publication, but many scholars applied to him for information, and this he never withheld. His correspondence with
Leopold Dukes
Leopold Dukes ( hu, Dukes Lipót; 17 January 1810, Pozsony – 3 August 1891, Vienna) was a Hungarian critic of Jewish literature.
Biography
Dukes spent about 20 years in England, and from his researches in the Bodleian Library and the British ...
,
Franz Delitzsch
Franz Delitzsch (23 February 1813, in Leipzig – 4 March 1890, in Leipzig) was a German Lutheran theologian and Hebraist. Delitzsch wrote many commentaries on books of the Bible, Jewish antiquities, Biblical psychology, as well as a history of ...
,
Wolf Heidenheim
Benjamin Wolf ben Samson Heidenheim (; 1757 – February 23, 1832) was a German exegete and grammarian.
Biography Early life
Born at Heidenheim, at an early age Heidenheim was sent to Fürth, where he studied Talmud under Joseph Steinhardt (a ...
,
J.L. Rapoport,
Luzzatto Luzzatto (or Luzzato) is an Italian surname. According to a tradition communicated by S. D. Luzzatto, the family descends from a German Jew who immigrated into Italy from the province of Lusatia, and who was named after his native place. ,
Gesenius,
Lebrecht,
Akiba Eiger, and
Leopold Zunz is of great literary interest. Michael's only independent work was ''Or ha-Ḥayyim'' (Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1891), a comprehensive bibliographical and literary-historical dictionary of
rabbinical literature
Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, is the entire spectrum of rabbinic writings throughout Jewish history. However, the term often refers specifically to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writ ...
, edited by his son, with preface by
A. Berliner.
References
*
;''Jewish Encyclopedia'' bibliography
*
Leopold Zunz, ''Zur Geschichte und Literatur'' p. 244, Berlin, 2010.
*''Oẓerot Ḥayyim'', Preface, Hamburg, 1848.
*''
Allgemeine Zeitung des Judenthums'' 1846, p. 224.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Michael, Heimann
1792 births
1846 deaths
Bibliographers of Hebrew literature
Bibliophiles
Jews from Hamburg