Newly launched Posen Digital Library makes available Jewish literature, art, artifacts and more

Yale University Press has launched the Posen Digital Library, which makes available online the artworks, literary works, and artifacts from The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization.

Created by Yale University Press and the Posen Foundation, the 10-volume Posen Library collects the best of Jewish culture from throughout the ages, from biblical times to the present. The first volume, covering the period from 1973 to 2005, was published in print in November, 2012. James E. Young, professor of English and Judaic studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, is the Posen Library’s editor-in-chief.

Designed for both exploration and research, the Posen Digital Library offers a new way to experience the library’s contents. Almost every item in the print volumes will also be available online, and the Posen Digital Library is free and available to everyone. 

Featuring literature, poetry, visual culture, intellectual culture, and popular culture, the Posen Digital Library is a flexible, searchable, interactive tool for professors, students, scholars, teachers, and others who want to know more about Jewish culture across the centuries. It encourages users to create groups and share information with others, and makes it easy for teachers to develop and share curricula. Works from the first volume are now online, including writings by Saul Bellow, Grace Paley, and Philip Roth. 

“The Posen Library is a treasure trove for anyone interested in Jewish culture and ideas. We are so pleased to partner with the Posen Foundation to make its riches available to all,” said John Donatich, director of Yale University Press.

Felix Posen, president of the Posen Foundation, said, “The Posen Digital Library serves our mission — to make a Jewish education available to eager and curious minds — especially well. We’re immensely proud that anyone, anywhere can access these Jewish cultural treasures.”

For more information, please contact Liz Pelton, Yale University Press, at 410-467-0989 or elizabeth.pelton@yale.edu.