The main library of Oxford University and the second-largest library in England. The Bodleian Library (Bibliotheca Bodleiana), named for its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley (1545-1613), has one of the most extensive special collections of Hebrew manuscripts and books. Primarily due to the collections catalogue Catalogus librorum Hebraeorum in Bibliotheca Bodleiana (1852–1860) published by Moritz Steinschneider for research purposes, it has been a central knowledge base for the study of Jewish history and literature since the mid-19th century.

The genesis of the Hebraica c…