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by Debra Kaplan and Elisheva Carlebach

"A Woman Is Responsible for Everything: Jewish Women in Early Modern Europe" is a scholarly collection that examines the experiences of Jewish women in Europe between roughly the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. Edited by Debra Kaplan and Elisheva Carlebach, the book brings together research that explores how women participated in family life, economic activity, religious practice, and community networks. Rather than presenting women only as passive figures within Jewish society, the essays show them as active participants who shaped everyday life and sometimes influenced communal decisions. The studies draw on a wide range of historical sources, including legal documents, correspondence and material culture. Through these sources, the book reveals the complex responsibilities that women carried within households and communities. Overall, the volume contributes to a broader understanding of gender roles and social dynamics in early modern Jewish culture.

by Rebecca Abrams and Cesar Merchan-Hamann

"Jewish Treasures from Oxford Libraries" by Rebecca Abrams and Cesar Merchan-Hamann offers a remarkable window into the extraordinary collections of Hebrew and Jewish manuscripts, printed books, and documents held across Oxford's many libraries and colleges. The book brings together some of the most significant and beautiful items from these holdings, spanning nearly two millennia of Jewish intellectual, religious, artistic, and everyday life. Each featured item is presented with careful scholarly commentary, illuminating not only its content but also its history — how it was created, who owned it, and how it eventually made its way to Oxford. The range of material is striking, encompassing biblical texts, legal documents, kabbalistic works, poetry, scientific treatises, and personal letters, reflecting the astonishing breadth of Jewish civilisation across many lands and centuries. The volume is as visually sumptuous as it is intellectually rich, making it equally accessible to the general reader and the specialist scholar. It serves both as a celebration of Oxford's unique role as a custodian of Jewish heritage and as a reminder of the deep and enduring connections between Jewish culture and the wider history of human knowledge.

A Masterpiece of Jewish Book Art

"The Kennicott Bible: A Masterpiece of Jewish Book Art" is a publication dedicated to one of the most magnificent illuminated Hebrew manuscripts in existence, completed in Spain in 1476 and today preserved in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. The book examines the remarkable collaboration between the scribe Moses ibn Zabara and the artist Joseph ibn Hayyim, whose extraordinary decorative work fills the manuscript's pages with fantastical creatures, intricate geometric designs, and richly ornamented text panels. Scholarly essays place the manuscript within the broader context of late medieval Sephardic culture, highlighting the unique way it weaves together Jewish, Islamic, and Christian artistic influences into a wholly distinctive visual language. The publication also traces the manuscript's long and eventful history, from its creation in the Spanish city of La Coruña to its eventual arrival at Oxford, where it became one of the Bodleian's most prized possessions. Generous full-colour reproductions throughout the volume allow readers to appreciate the breathtaking quality and inventiveness of the illuminations in exceptional detail. The book stands as both a tribute to an irreplaceable cultural treasure and an important contribution to the study of medieval Jewish art and manuscript culture.

by Laurence Anholt 

"Small Stories of Great Artists" introduces young readers to the lives of well-known painters through short narrative episodes inspired by historical events. Written and illustrated by Laurence Anholt, the book presents artists not only as famous figures in art history but also as individuals with personal struggles, friendships, and creative ambitions. Each story focuses on a particular moment that reveals how an artist’s work developed and how their ideas were shaped by everyday experiences. 

To bring famous artists closer to young audiences, Anholt uses a clever narrative approach: each story is narrated through the eyes of a child who had a real connection with the artist in question. This allows readers to enter the artist's world naturally and effortlessly, experiencing it alongside a relatable peer rather than as a distant observer. As a result, figures who might seem remote or intimidating become warm, human, and approachable. Rich illustrations accompany the text and visually echo the styles associated with the artists discussed. In this way, the book offers an accessible introduction to major figures of Western art while encouraging curiosity about artistic creativity.