In 1862 the Concordance of Buxtorf was reprinted in 4to at Berlin, under the editorship of Bernard Baer, who has added the meanings of the words in Hebraic German, but made no other material alteration upon Buxtorf's plan, even the Hebrew numeration of the original being retained, and the words remaining unaccented.

The present Edition of the Hebrew and Chaldee Concordance will be found, it is believed, superior in every respect to all previous issues. In the etymological arrangement of the work Dr. Fürst has with some exceptions been followed; but a number of improvements have been made to enhance its convenience and usefulness to the student. By the adoption of a small but clear and legible type, and by the avoidance of needless repetitions, the unwieldiness of former editions is obviated; while the lexicography, though necessarily somewhat condensed, is sufficiently ample for ordinary study, and is drawn from the latest and best authorities. Every reference has been verified by Mr. Davidson, many omissions supplied and errors corrected. The order of the books is here regulated uniformly, and also that of the personal inflexions of the verb, which in Buxtorf and Fürst are Perf. 3, 2, 1, Fut. 1, 2, 3, but are here given alike 3, 2, 1. The suffixes are moreover expressed in detail, so that every word is furnished with a complete analysis for the benefit of the less practised student, while the omission of its useless reiteration, as in Fürst, secures a lucidity that every scholar will appreciate in a work of this kind. This advantage, it is conceived, is augmented by the contraction of the word in question to its initial letter; a plan which indeed could not be adopted till the forms of words were separated by Buxtorf, but which, however, is now for the first time presented to the Hebraist. It should be observed that roots embracing distinct ideas are divided accordingly, with their derivatives placed respectively under each head; and that occurrences distinguished by an asterisk are such as result from the various readings of MSS.

The list of Particles at the end of the volume is given in order to render the Lexicon complete. Some of them are included in the body of the work, with their passages or a selection of them.

The publishers inform us, in their advertisement, that two eminent Scholars-the Rev. Joseph Hughes, of Chellaston, and

Mr. A. G. Wright-saw the work through the press: to whose care and attention the CONCORDANCE owes its unrivalled beauty as a work of art.

We have tested the accuracy of the CONCORDANCE, most minutely, in all its departments. We pronounce it-most conscientiously-NE PLUS ULTRA. The Publishers, aided by the above-named Hebraists, have, by the production of this splendid posthumous OPUS, not only conferred an invaluable benefit upon present and future learners and students of the SACRED TONGUE, but have also raised a noble monument to the late BENJAMIN DAVIDSON, one of the brightest ornaments of Anglo-Hebrews; one who adorned his profession as a BELIEVING ISRAELITE.

MEMORANDUM.

THE LITERARY TREASURE TROVE AT
ST. PETERSBURG.

THE Athenæum and The Times chronicled the following in the course of last November :

"Mr. Neubauer, Sub-Librarian of the Bodleian, who was deputed by the University to examine a collection of HebrewArabic manuscripts lately obtained from the Crimea by the Imperial Library at St. Petersburg, has sent to the ViceChancellor a report of the results of his mission which will be of great interest to the student of Hebrew literature. says:

He

'The collection is composed of more than 1000 separate volumes, which consist chiefly of fragments, collected apparently from the Karaitic synagogues in Egypt, and at Hit, in Mesopotamia. As is well known, the Jews, whether Rabbinites or Karaites, respect in the highest degree the writings of their learned men, and in order to save them from profanation, even when in an incomplete state, they store away every leaf of them in a remote corner of their synagogues. This place is commonly called Genizah (or Treasury). In some parts of the worldin Morocco, for instance-I am told that fragments of Hebrew literature are, for want of space, piled up and buried somewhere

near the synagogue. Firkovitz and some other members of his family had the good fortune to acquire a collection of such manuscript débris, which was afterwards brought to the Crimea. The collector not having any knowledge of Arabic, and also having very little time for the study of the manuscripts written in Hebrew, the manuscripts came to the Imperial Library in some disorder. I may say, without exaggeration, that there are separate volumes, which are composed of from twenty to thirty small fragments of several pages only, and of various contents. Dr. Harkavy, who was sent by the Russian Government to the Crimea in order to give an account of the manuscripts before the purchase, made a hasty list of them, his time having been too short for drawing up a more accurate one, and there being no books at his disposal in the Crimea. This new collection, although it contains, as I have stated, but a few complete works, is, in my opinion, of much more value than the first, bought in 1862. It will be seen from the following brief description how many fragments of Hebrew books, considered as lost up to the present time, are to be found here; and as there are often several fragments of the same work the catalogist will in many cases succeed in restoring to literature a complete copy of it. Other works of the collection, although not unique, since a great number of them are in the Bodleian Library, will be of the highest importance for collation, and in some cases for the completion of missing passages. However, it will take many years before such an extensive collection can be classified with success.'

"Mr. Neubauer, after acknowledging the extreme kindness of the Privy Councillor, M. A. Th. Bytschkow, Vice-Director of the Imperial Library, in facilitating his researches, goes on to enumerate the most important works which the collection contains, classified according to their subjects.

"The following are the most important works:

"1. Biblical MSS.-A large number of Pentateuch rolls and Biblical MSS., the oldest of the latter being dated 913-933. They contain the Massorah, wherein additions to our text of the Massorah and many names of unknown Massoreths are to be found, not to speak of the list of various readings occasioned by the differences between the Eastern and Western schools. The

catalogue which Dr. Harkavy is preparing will give a full account of these variations. The colophons as well as the list of the Massoreths have already been published by him.

"2. Halakhah and Haggadah.-There are only a few leaves of Talmudical works, which will be described by Rabbi Nathan Rabbinovitz, the editor of the "variæ lectiones" of the Babylonian Talmud according to the Munich MS. Of later Rabbinical Halakhah there are large fragments of the Halakhoth Gedoloth, of the responsa of the Geonim, one leaf of R. Saadyah Gaon's "regulæ mactationis," with a commentary, Halakhoth by R. Mebasser Gaon, and finally the casuistic part on Zizith (Numbers xv. 38-40) by R. Samuel ben Hofni Gaon. In Karaitic casuistry this collection is enormously rich. Besides a large number of old books of commandments, there are those (1) of Daniel of Kumes, hitherto only known by a few quotations (2) of Abu Yakub el-Bazir (in Hebrew Joseph har-Roeh), (3) of Joseph of Kirkisân (the old Karkemish), (4) the second part of Abu Sari's (Mazliah) 'Sepher Dinim;' besides those of Yephet hal-Levi and others, which are also to be found in the first collection and in the National Library at Paris. Most of these are in Arabic.

"3. Exegesis.-In this branch the new collection outrivals every other library, although the works are not complete: a. Rabbinitic commentaries. (1) A very old fragment of R. Saadyah Gaon's commentary on a part of Exodus; the existence of a commentary on the Pentateuch by this famous author was only known up to the present time by quotations. (2) The commentary of Jehudah ben Bal'am on the Prophets (two large fragments almost complete) and one leaf of his commentary on the Psalms. (3) Three large fragments of R. Thanhum's, of Jerusalem, commentary on Isaiah. Also fragments of his commentary on the Psalms, and a large fragment of his grammatical and lexicographical introduction to his commentaries (?). B. Of Karaitic commentaries there are, besides those of Yepheth ben 'Ali (almost complete) and of Salmon ben Yeruham, to be found also in the former collection, fragments of Jacob of Kirkisân on the Pentateuch, of Abu-l-Faraj Furkân Joshua on the Pentateuch and a part of the Prophets, and of David ben Boaz han Nassî on Ecclesiastes. There are a great number of

fragments containing short commentaries (or rather vocabularies) on passages of the various books of the Old Testament (all in Arabic). Numerous fragments of homilies or introductions to the Pentateuch in Arabic. On the margin of a fragment of Thanhun's commentary on Judges, passages are quoted from Abraham bar Hiyyâ and R. Joseph ibn Kapril-authors not known as having written commentaries—as well as a passage on Joshua iii. 16, by R. Moses ben Shesheth, whose commentary on Jeremiah and Ezekiel was edited by Mr. Driver from a Bodleian MS.

“4. Grammar and Lexicography.—There are fragments of R. Saadyah Gaon's grammar in Hebrew; a fragment of R. Hayya Gaon's dictionary; fragments of Hayyudj's grammatical works, as well as large and numerous fragments of Abu-l-Walid's grammar; of his lexicon, as well as of his Opuscula. There are also two

كتاب الموازنة copies of large fragments of Ibrahim ben Barun's

"5. Poetry.-According to Dr. Harkavy's list, there are fragments of the Diwans of Gabirol, of Jehudah hal-Levy, of Moses ben Ezra, of Jacob ben Elazar, of Harizi's translation of Hariri, and a great number of anonymous writings. Amongst Prayer-Books, the rite of Tuster (in Persia) may be mentioned specially.

"6. Philosophy.-A fragment of R. Saadyah Gaon's ! LS, and of Isaac Israeli's unknown treatise, called and some treatises by Karaitic Jews. There are also fragments of controversial treatises of medical, mathematical, and astronomical books, both in Arabic and in Hebrew, the authors of which remain at present unknown.

ABRAM BEN EZRA'S STORY.4

PART I.-CHAPTER I.

LONG, long ago, when Henry of Anjou

Ruled o'er this land and part of fair France too,
A company of Hebrews met to keep

Their tabernacle-feast close to the Chepe;

4 Founded on an untoward episode which occurred in the life of the renowned ABRAHAM ABEN EZRA, which led to that celebrity's espousal of the only daughter of the illustrious Hebrew Poet and Philosopher YEHUDAH HALAYWEE. Hebrew Christian Witness for 1873, pp. 452-3.

See The