Called a work of "great significance" in a recent Chicago Public Radio profile.
Lectures, Discussions, Panels
Illustrated Lecture and Booksigning
- Wrestling with Rashi
- Deeana Copeland Klepper
- Sunday, August 26, 2007 at 3 pm
- (Please note special time.)
- Booksigning to follow.
- $12 | $10 members | $8 students
Call 312.322.1743 or email rsvp@spertus.edu.
Aquisition of the Postilla made possible by Eugene and Janet Lerner and members of the Asher Library Visiting Committee.
The most popular Christian Bible commentary in late medieval and early modern Europe was Nicholas de [of] Lyra's Postilla Litteralis Super Totam Bibliam, a vast work that incorporated Jewish interpretations, especially those of Rashi, into commentary on both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament.
On the occasion of the Asher Library and Newberry Library's joint acquisition of a rare 1481 edition of the Postilla, historian Deeana Copeland Klepper speaks about what brought Christian scholars like Nicholas to Jewish teachings on the Bible and the challenges these scholars faced.
Illustrations (some based on drawings by Rashi) were used to differentiate interpretations. Dr. Klepper highlights her talk with images from lavishly illuminated copies of the text.
Deeana Copeland Klepper holds a PhD in medieval European history from Northwestern University and teaches about the religious culture of the Middle Ages at Boston University. She is the recipient of numerous prizes and fellowships from organizations including the American Academy in Rome and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Her just completed book, The Insight of Unbelievers, profiles Nicholas de Lyra.