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Show s Civic Leader Donates j Hebrew Scrolls, Bible - -; I i . v . ; r V 1 i i University Librarian Dr. Ralph D. ThomjMuiiiJT BYU and Harvard University inspect elfts tn iVwT,1 Mr. Benjamin M. Roe, a leader lead-er of the Salt Lake City Jewish community, recently donated two Hebrew scrolls and a 16th-century 16th-century Hebrew Old Testament to the University of Utah Libraries. Li-braries. THE THREE gifts are wel-additions wel-additions to the University's expanding ex-panding Judaica library collection, collec-tion, which increased by some 1200 volumes during 1965. Mr. Roe bought the four volume vol-ume Old Testament, published in 1588 and still in its original binding, in Jerusalem. He found the two parchment scrolls in a small shop in Barcelona, Spain. A RARE book specialist recently re-cently vindicated Mr. Roe's investment, in-vestment, identifying the manuscripts manu-scripts as 200 to 500 years old and appraising them at several hundred dollars apiece. The scrolls are copies of the Old Testament Book of Esther. Richard W. Boss, assistant University librarian, said that it would be very difficult to pinpoint pin-point the age of the parchments without using carbon dating or some similar measuring device. ONE OF the scrolls is made of vellum, and the other is of j goatskin. Both are less than a foot wide and over ten feet long. The scrolls will now be displayed dis-played in the Utah and Rare Books Department of the University Uni-versity Library for two weeks. They will then be stored in glass cabinets and used from time to time as part of major displays. MR. ROE, who said he hoped his donations of the three items would stimulate others in Salt Lake City to give similar materials, mate-rials, has made annual contributions contri-butions to the Library for over 22 years. He and Dr. Luis C. Zucker, professor emeritus of English at the University, are in charge of raising funds for the expansion expan-sion of the Judaica collection. THE UNIVERSITY collection, which now contains some 10,000 pieces, is the second largest in the western United States. The funds provided by the Judaica Library Associates of Salt Lake City are expected to support even greater growth in the future. fu-ture. The Library Associates, mostly most-ly members of the Jewish faith, last January pledged contribu- tions totaling $40,000. Mr. Roe and Dr. Zucker place the eventual eventu-al goal at $100,000. RAISING FUNDS to support expansion is only part of the program. Assistant Librarian Boss pointed out that "the job of processing alone is a massive one. Thousands of volumes must be catalogued, numbered, and Placed on the lib,, each year." Material in ,he which covers Hebr- mg Zionism, will the University's Middle: brary. Another goal J; the collection is the'i establishment of , j Judaic Language and C |