The Isser and Rae Price Library of Judaica owns a large collection of scarce imprints, mostly from the late 19th to early 20th century. In this regard, the Price Library ranks among the top twenty academic Judaica research libraries in the world.
Among the treasures acquired by the Judaica Library from the personal collection of Shlomo Marenof, a former professor at Brandeis, was a clean copy of the Hebrew anthology Bereshit (In the Beginning). This scarce imprint was one of the last Hebrew books published in Russia under communist rule in the 1920s and printed in Germany due to Soviet opposition to Hebrew culture. Worse still, the temporary license issued for its production prevented a proofreading stage which rendered this hard fought for, single edition publication replete with printing errors.
Foyglen
Leib Kvitko (1890-1952)
1983. Reprint
15 p. : ill. ; 24 x 35 cm.
Foyglen (birds) is a collection of Yiddish poems written in 1922 by Leib Kvitko (1890-1952). Under the name Lev Kvitko, he later achieved fame as one of the greatest masters of Soviet children's verse. Kvitko was murdered in 1952 during one of the Stalinist purges. The 1922 edition of Foyglen is also noteworthy for its illustrations by the Russian-French Jewish artist Issachar Ryback (1897-1935). This reprint from 1983 is one of a limited edition of 500 copies.
Between God and man : Hebrew rhapsody in 100 drawings
Saul Raskin (1878-1966)
1959
136 p. : ill. ; 35 cm.
Saul Raskin (1878-1966) was a Russian Jewish illustrator who studied at a number of European art schools and emigrated to the U.S. in 1904. Many of his works depicted scenes of Jewish life, especially in New York's lower east side. His works of art with their striking designs and use of blank space have been collected by many major museums and galleries. The Price Library's copy of 'Between God and man …' is one of 24 held in U.S. libraries (WorldCat).