Jacob M. Lowy Collection

This collection is Canada’s national treasure of old and rare Hebraica and Judaica.

About the collection

Jacob Max Lowy was born in Bardejov, Austrio-Hungary Empire (present day Slovakia) in 1908. He left continental Europe for England in 1938 with his wife and children. He moved to Montreal in 1951 where he flourished as an industrialist, real estate developer and community leader.

Lowy spent much of his life collecting rare and old Hebraica and Judaica books, which he donated in 1977. He went on to become a Member of the Order of Canada in October 1983 before dying in 1990 at the age of 82.

The Jacob M. Lowy collection contains approximately 3000 volumes printed between the 15th and 20th centuries and spans religious, scientific, historical and philosophical thought. It includes printing in Hebrew, Yiddish, Judeo-Arabic, Judeo-Spanish, Latin, Greek and numerous European vernacular languages.

Highlights of the collection include 34 Hebrew, Latin, and Italian books from the early days of printing in the 15th century (called incunables). It also contains the first and early editions of Talmud, codes of law, responsa, legal and biblical commentaries and mystical texts.

The Jacob M. Lowy Room holds a specialized reference collection of 2500 monographs and periodicals that focus on the origin, spread and collection of printed and manuscript Hebraica and Judaica. It also holds the Saul Hays Collection of 200 original manuscripts in Hebrew and other Jewish languages.

Search tips

Search Aurora with Sub-collection codes

Go to Aurora and select Advanced Search
For older publications, enter your preferred search terms in the main search field and in the second search field, enter "ot=coll4”
To search by shelving location, enter your preferred search terms in the main search field and in the second search field, enter “b8:Lowy”

Example 1

Example 1 - Text version

This image is a visual representation of the LAC's Library Catalogue search Aurora. This is the Advanced Search screen. There are three rows of options.

The first row contains:

a Search Index drop-down menu. The menu has the following available options:
- Accession number
- Author
- Author phrase
- Corporate conference name
- Corporate conference name phrase
- ISSN
- Keyword (currently selected)
- Language
- Language phrase
- Music/publisher number
- Musical composition
- Personal name
- Personal name phrase
- Place of publication
- Publisher
- Series
- Series phrase
- Standard number
- Subject
- Subject phrase
- Title
- Title phrase
a Search Term text field. It currently has the text "wom?n" entered.

The second row contains:

a boolean Operator drop-down menu. The menu has the following available options:
- and (currently selected)
- or
- not
a Search Index drop-down menu. The menu has the following available options:
- Accession number
- Author
- Author phrase
- Corporate conference name
- Corporate conference name phrase
- ISSN
- Keyword (currently selected)
- Language
- Language phrase
- Music/publisher number
- Musical composition
- Personal name
- Personal name phrase
- Place of publication
- Publisher
- Series
- Series phrase
- Standard number
- Subject
- Subject phrase
- Title
- Title phrase
a Search Term text field. It currently has the text "ot=coll4" entered.

The third row contains:

a boolean Operator drop-down menu. The menu has the following available options:
- and (currently selected)
- or
- not
a Search Index drop-down menu. The menu has the following available options:
- Accession number
- Author (currently selected)
- Author phrase
- Corporate conference name
- Corporate conference name phrase
- ISSN
- Keyword
- Language
- Language phrase
- Music/publisher number
- Musical composition
- Personal name
- Personal name phrase
- Place of publication
- Publisher
- Series
- Series phrase
- Standard number
- Subject
- Subject phrase
- Title
- Title phrase
a Search Term text field. This field is currently empty.

Example 2

Example 2 - Text version

This image is a visual representation of the LAC's Library Catalogue search Aurora. This is the Advanced Search screen. There are three rows of options.

The first row contains:

a Search Index drop-down menu. The menu has the following available options:
- Accession number
- Author
- Author phrase
- Corporate conference name
- Corporate conference name phrase
- ISSN
- Keyword (currently selected)
- Language
- Language phrase
- Music/publisher number
- Musical composition
- Personal name
- Personal name phrase
- Place of publication
- Publisher
- Series
- Series phrase
- Standard number
- Subject
- Subject phrase
- Title
- Title phrase
a Search Term text field. It currently has the text "b8:lowy" entered.

The second row contains:

a boolean Operator drop-down menu. The menu has the following available options:
- and (currently selected)
- or
- not
a Search Index drop-down menu. The menu has the following available options:
- Accession number
- Author
- Author phrase
- Corporate conference name
- Corporate conference name phrase
- ISSN
- Keyword (currently selected)
- Language
- Language phrase
- Music/publisher number
- Musical composition
- Personal name
- Personal name phrase
- Place of publication
- Publisher
- Series
- Series phrase
- Standard number
- Subject
- Subject phrase
- Title
- Title phrase
a Search Term text field. It currently has the text "ot=coll4" entered.

The third row contains:

a boolean Operator drop-down menu. The menu has the following available options:
- and (currently selected)
- or
- not
a Search Index drop-down menu. The menu has the following available options:
- Accession number
- Author (currently selected)
- Author phrase
- Corporate conference name
- Corporate conference name phrase
- ISSN
- Keyword
- Language
- Language phrase
- Music/publisher number
- Musical composition
- Personal name
- Personal name phrase
- Place of publication
- Publisher
- Series
- Series phrase
- Standard number
- Subject
- Subject phrase
- Title
- Title phrase
a Search Term text field. This field is currently empty.

Access the collection

The collection is open to visitors by appointment only from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, Monday through Friday, excluding statutory holidays.

Contact us

Email: lowy@bac-lac.gc.ca
Fax: 613-943-1112
Mailing address: Jacob M. Lowy Collection
Library and Archives Canada
395 Wellington Street, room 237A
Ottawa, ON K1A 0N4
Canada

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