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Solomon Ibn Gabirol: A Bibliography

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Isaac Goldberg's A Bibliography of the Poetry of Ibn Gabirol in Translation represents a great step for-ward in introducing medieval Hebrew literature into the core of Jewish studies and in opening doors to scholars of medieval literature and history in general. The bibliography is an important research aid and is especially welcome to those of us who teach medieval Hebrew literature to students with limited or no knowledge of Hebrew. At last teachers may answer a student's query whether a poem by Ibn Gabirol has been translated with a quick glance at Goldberg's impressive index. Including materials in a surprising number of languages (Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Judeo-Arabic, Judeo-German, Judeo-Spanish, Latin, Marathi, Polish, Portuguese, Rumanian Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish, Swedish, and Yiddish), the bibliography fills gaps left by bibliographical compilations as extensive as Ezra Fleischer's notes to Jefun Schinnann's The History of Hebrew Poetry in Muslim Spain (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1995) and The History of Hebrew Poetry in Christian Spain and Southern France (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1997), which include sparse references to translations and secondary studies in languages other than Hebrew. Goldberg's bibliography also includes many citations that cannot be found through databases such as RAMBI. Goldberg's bibliography opens with a short biographical introduction on Ibn Gabirol followed by a select glossary of technical terms. The bibliography is then divided by language (Dutch, English, French, etc.); within each language are listed anthologies of poetry, books, book reviews, critical articles, essays, and dissertations. The two indices--one organized according to Latin characters, the other according to Hebrew characters are very useful and well organized. if one knows the Hebrew title of a poem, one can quickly determine whether it has been translated, in whole or in part, or discussed in any of the citations included in the bibliography. Titles of poems are also listed in the Latin character index according to non-Hebrew title, usually as designated by the translator. The indices also include names and works of modem scholars.... Goldberg's bibliography is extremely thorough and is an invaluable contribution to the field, both on the levels of research and pedagogy. As we look forward to forthcoming volumes on other poets, we wonder if there are plans for updating the bibliography or digitizing the project.

Jonathan P. Decter The Jewish Theological Seminary New York, NY 10027 Hebrew Studies 41(2000) pages 341-343