DAVID GANS’ NEHMAD VE-NAIM: HISTORY OF TEXTUAL TRANSMISSION
DAVID GANS’ NEHMAD VE-NAIM: HISTORY OF TEXTUAL TRANSMISSION

Summary/Abstract: The first serious attempt at reconstructing the textual history of David Gans’ Nehmad ve-naim was published by Georg (Jiøí) Alter (1891–1972) in 1958. Alter was a Czech scholar from a German-speaking Jewish background; most of his research was conducted and published in Czechoslovakia during the Communist period. The story of his life and his research is a subject in its own right. Alter’s study of Nehmad ve-naim has recently been republished by Gad Freudenthal. The second attempt is that of André Neher (1914–1988). In his rather controversial monograph on David Gans “and his times” Neher devoted a full chapter to the printed edition and manuscripts of Nehmad ve-naim that were known to him. Neher accepted some of Alter’s conclusions, disagreed with others, and proposed an alternative reconstruction of the transmission history of the text. The purpose of the present paper is to reconsider the main arguments of these two scholars in light of a new source material, chiefly manuscripts of Nehmad ve-naim that were not accessible to either of them. First I will summarize Alter’s results, Neher’s critique, and his alternative theory. Afterwards a list of manuscripts known today will be presented and analyzed. Finally, I will argue that a revised version of Alter’s theory explains the available data the best.

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