Samuel Wiener’s “Book” Letters to Baron D.G. Günzburg

The article is a publication of two letters from Samuel Wiener, a librarian of the Asian Museum in St. Petersburg in the late 19^th century, to the baron David Goratsievich Günzburg, a collector and Orientalist of Jewish origin. The letters were written in Hebrew in 1897–98 and are housed in the Günzburg’s archive at the National Library of Russia. Through the commented translation of the letters into Russian, the article analyzes the subject matter and the level of interaction of Jewish intellectuals in that time: renowned scholars are mentioned (C. Salemann, D. Chwolson, O. Lemm, etc.), books purchased by the baron, in Hebrew and other languages, a problem of delivering these books to St. Petersburg is highlighted. In addition, the letters turn out to be a vivid example of relationship between the scholars, as well as a source of information on the acquisition of personal libraries in the Russian Empire: S. Wiener described in detail what the collectors were “hunting” for and how they competed with each other.