Notes for a Biography: A Portrait of Isaiah Sonne (1887–1960)

Isaiah Sonne (1887–1960) was a distinguished scholar, paleographer, bibliographer, librarian, book dealer, and collector whose activities spanned Habsburg Galicia, Fascist Italy, Mandatory Palestine, and the United States during the first six decades of the 20th century. Although he was a prolific author and appreciated by many individuals especially because of his paleographic skills and profound knowledge of Jewish manuscripts and early printed books, his life and scholarship have only received modest attention since his death. The portrait offered in this brief article represents the first fruits of a book project that aims to produce the very first cultural biography of this scholar.