Bookplate of N.H. van Biema

Bookplate of N.H. van Biema

Van Biema, N. H., 1836-1901

This is the bookplate of N.H. van Biema (1836-1901), a Dutch author, bibliographer and bibliophile. He is also referred to by his pseudonym "Yenahel" (ינהל), which is an acronym of the first initials of his Hebrew name Ya'akov Naftali Hirts Levi (יעקב נפתלי הירץ לוי).

Naftali Hirts (Naftalie Herz) was the son of an Orthodox banker, Zvi Hersch Levi (Hartog) van Biema (b. 1814) of the firm Hollander and Lehren, and Jocheved Esther Lehren (b. 1819), daughter of the famous Rabbi Akiva Lehren. He was educated in Altona and developed a love for books at a young age.

Van Biema served as the secretary of the Pekidim and Amarkalim (est. 1810), an organization created to support and raise funds for the yishuv (Jewish community of Erets Yisrael (Palestine)).

He inherited the library of his uncle, Rabbi Tsebi Hirsch Lehren, whose signature appears alongside van Biema's bookplate in one of the books in the Brisman collection. Van Biema added to his uncle's collection throughout his lifetime.

This bookplate was produced to adorn the books of van Biema's collection when they were auctioned off several years after his death. At the top of the bookplate, in Hebrew, it says: From the books of Ya'akov Naftali Hirts Levi. In the middle of the bookplate is the word "Versteigerung," which is German for "auction." Below van Biema's name in Dutch is the date according to the Hebrew calendar, which is February or March 1905 in the Gregorian calendar. At the bottom of the stamp, below the break, is the name of the auctioneer, J.L. Joachimsthal.

Van Biema, N. H., 1836-1901

Amsterdam, J.L. Auction catalogs, 1899-1905 (WorldCat)

Europeana

Jewish Encyclopedia: Book Collectors

Jewish Encyclopedia: Pseudonymous Literature and Writers

Joods Biografisch Woordenboek

1905

Digital Image: Washington University in Saint Louis

Paper

Dutch, German, Hebrew

Bookplate

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