them from Chr. Ravius 81 . Yet another of Ansloo’s MSS had once formed part of Johan Meermann’s collection 62 . The manuscripts with press-mark Acad, belong to the Oriental manuscript collection of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences and were given to the Leiden University Library on permanent loan 83 . In 1837 the Academy bought those six manuscripts which are either in Hebrew or on Hebrew subjects, from the estate of Johannes Willmet (1750-1835) Professor of Oriental languages at Harderwijk and Amsterdam 84 . They not only include documents from the estate of Everhard Scheidius {Acad. 101) and two Esther scrolls (Acad. 215 and 216) but also, surprisingly, a very full codex containing liturgical poetry (Selihot and Qinof, Acad. 214). The three manuscripts bearing the press-mark Baars belong to the small private collection of Dr. W. Baars of Leiden (no. 1 is an Ethiopian Psalter) and are on per manent loan to the Library’s holdings. They are two Yemenite Pentateuch manuscripts acquired by Baars in Jerusalem. One is important because of the marginal notes it contains from less well-known works by Jewish authors in Yemen. The majority of manuscripts acquired by the Library in recent years also come from Yemen which along with the Cairo Geniza is, in fact, the only source from which Hebrew manuscripts have been acquired in the last hundred years, if we exclude the purchase of established collections. (There has, indeed, been no question of the Leiden Library making such a purchase of any collection of Hebrew manuscripts). The manuscripts from Yemen have been even more widely dispersed throughout the entire world than the Geniza fragments. Printed books were rare in Yemen although books were in great demand by the Jews. As a result the number of manus cripts in circulation was extraordinarily high. When news of this reached Western Europe and America from travellers who had visited Yemen, much interest was aroused and, in the last hundred years, numerous manuscripts have changed hands and many have probably found their way into the holdings of libraries. Cataloguing of this material is by no means complete and, in many cases, has yet to be embarked upon. Leiden has received its own modest share of this influx and these acquisitions are, comparatively speaking, very recent e.g. Hebr. 225, 226 and 227 acquired in 1941 by Mr. Adriaanse; Hebr. 248, 249 and 250 in 1963 by Mr. Van Duykeren;

51. The Catalogus Codicum Bibliotheca Universitatis Rheno-Trajectina 1(1887) maintains that the MSS were gifted to the University by Ansloo who had acquired them from Ravius. It is assumed, however, in Levinus Warner and his Legacy that they were gifted by Ravius who had acquired them from Ansloo. It is indeed known from another source that Ravius had gifted four manuscripts to this University, see Juynboll, Beoefenaars ... p. 219. 52. See L. Stem, Die orientalische Meermann Handschriften (Berlin 1892), p. 16 (no. 1401) : a gift (7) from Chr. Ravius to Ansloo who later gave it to Anna Maria Schuurman. 53. Previously described by P. de Jong in Catalogus Codicum Orientalium Bibliotheca Regia Scien- tarium (1862). The Hebrew manuscripts are described on pp. 1-8. 54. See Bibliotheca Willmetiana. Catalogus Bibliotheca instructissima quam in suos usus comparavit Joannes Willmet (1837). The Hebrew manuscripts are described on pp. 13, 17 and 31. See also De Jong’s extensive Prafatio.