The U.S. Library of Congress is among those institutions that have expressed interest in housing the library -- if a wealthy donor or consortium can be found to make the purchase, according to David Redden, Sotheby’s vice chairman.If any PaleoJudaica readers or their friends happen to have $40 million available for a philanthropic project, here's your chance.
“We’ve been interested in this collection for a considerable time,” said Dr. James Billington, U.S. Librarian of Congress, in a telephone interview. “It would find a great home here.”
However, Billington added, “We don’t remotely have those resources.”
Also, The Forward has a brief article on the Library exhibit:
Celebrated Collection of Hebrew Texts on View, on SaleBackground here.
By Sarah Kessler
Published February 18, 2009, issue of February 18, 2009.
Jack Lunzer, whose private collection of more than 11,000 Hebrew books and manuscripts is on display at the New York auction house Sotheby’s until February 19, has a line he often repeats: “When two or three Jews get together, they buy a printing press.”
The Valmadonna Trust Library, which is valued at more than $40 million and will be sold as a complete collection by Sotheby’s in a private sale, is a testament to the People of the Book’s drive to write. Bound pages from four continents, and almost 1,000 years of the printed Hebrew word line shelves from floor to skylight in the auction house’s 10th-floor exhibition space.
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