Before the Print Revolution: Manuscripts and the World They Made
Part of the learning series, You Say You Want a Revolution: Jewish Encounters with Radical Change
With Dr. Marcus Mordecai Schwartz, Ripps Schnitzer Librarian for Special Collections; Assistant Professor, Talmud and Rabbinics
Before the print revolution transformed how Jews accessed and spread knowledge, handwritten manuscripts shaped Jewish intellectual and spiritual life. In this session, Dr. Mordecai Schwartz explored the quiet revolutions embedded in manuscript culture—from scribal innovation to marginal commentary—and what they reveal about continuity, creativity, and change before Gutenberg. This session highlighted pieces on display at the Grolier Club of NYC in the exhibit, “Jewish Worlds Illuminated: A Treasury of Hebrew Manuscripts from The JTS Library,” which features over 100 manuscript and book offerings from The Library.
About the Series
What does revolution look like in Jewish life—spiritual, social, technological, or political? This fall, join JTS scholars for a provocative webinar series exploring transformative moments across Jewish history. From the emergence of monotheism to the Russian Revolution, from handwritten manuscripts to digital frontiers, from summer camps to the Talmud, we’ll consider how Jews have sparked, resisted, and reimagined change. Each session invites reflection on what revolution means—then and now.
