D O C U M E N T 1 9 4 J A N U A R Y 1 9 2 4 1 9 7
future. We hope that it will also be possible to inaugurate this institute at the same
time as the scientific one next summer, or at the latest in the fall.
The university library is now also on the way out of its former stagnation. As we
informed you at the t[ime], an accord has been reached with the management of the
Wolffsohn foundation, according to which the latter makes its entire capital, total-
ing £15,000.–, available for the construction of a new
building.[9]
The problem had
been to find a suitable building site. We now believe, though, we have found a very
nice location on Scopus itself. This matter will probably be resolved very shortly
on location in Palestine during the personal visit of Mr. Kann from the board of
trustees of the Wolffsohn foundation.
While we had to work so hard to create the technical preconditions for the fur-
ther development of the library, on the other hand our efforts to raise the standard
of the library through the purchase of new holdings did meet with success. Just in
the last few weeks, we could report a very welcome achievement in this regard. We
succeeded in acquiring for our library the extraordinarily valuable and unique ori-
ental library of the late Prof. Ignatz Goldziher in
Budapest.[10]
This library includes
oriental prints (400 vols.), oriental literature (published in the West: 500 vols.),
modern literature on the Orient (2,500 vols.), bibles and Hebraic items (over 1,000
vols.), 45 series of periodicals, a copious collection of offprints and excerpts, and
a large amount of ethnographic, folkloric, and philological literature. We acquired
this library, which gains additional special importance through a number of rare
and unique items that had been given to the deceased scholar by orientalist friends,
for the relatively low price of £3,000. This acquisition signifies an invaluable gain
for the university’s stature in Palestine. For the time being, however, we must still
keep strictly quiet about this matter, as its definitive conclusion depends on the is-
suance of the export permit on the part of the Hungarian government, and this point
will still cause us major difficulties, despite backing promised by English parties.
You probably heard about the negotiations regarding the export of the Günzburg
endowment from Prof. Warburg
personally.[11]
We are now hoping for your kind
support in this matter.
This is, in overall outline, the present situation of the various institutes. Dr.
Weizmann intends, during his present sojourn in America, to devote himself very
particularly to the raising of funds for the university. He hopes that the fact that
some institutes are currently in the process of being established will significantly
facilitate the attraction the interest of further circles.
We would be very obliged if you would kindly relay to us as soon as possible
your response regarding your entry into the Board of Governors. As you know, the
legal formalities require quite a lot of time; and we consider it urgently necessary
that the university’s highest authority be formally constituted as soon as possible.