Catalog of a Collection of Photographs by Gérard Allon in the Judaica Collection of the Harvard library

It is our hope that, as resources permit, we will be able to issue catalogs
of some of these materials in order to better acquaint the scholarly community
with the Library’s online Judaica resources. Our first such publication
is this catalog of the work of Gérard Allon, one of Israel’s leading
photographers. The catalog focuses on Allon’s works documenting Israeli
theatrical performances, the largest component of Harvard’s Gérard
Allon collection. We are very pleased that the catalog is introduced by
Nissan N. Perez of the Israel Museum, followed by a personal statement
by the artist himself. The Library’s Gérard Allon collection has some
73,000 digital images of Allon’s work, as well as a large sampling of his
work in prints and contact sheets prepared by the artist himself.
That Harvard has been able to develop its online collection of Israeli
photographs is due to the sympathetic understanding and magnificent
cooperation of the various photographers and archives who permitted
us to make digital copies of their photo archives (of negatives/
prints or of original digital photographs), and who provided the accompanying
documentation. The online archive of these images is a
tribute to their great talent and highlights their vital contribution to
the recording and preservation of Israeli culture. We are truly grateful
to all of them. We are equally grateful to those individuals who have
over the years provided the Library’s Judaica Division with endowed
Judaica Book Funds, the income from which supports all aspects of
the Judaica Collection, including the development of Judaica online
visual resources.
It is a pleasure to express our gratitude to those who have made the
publication of this catalog possible: first and foremost, Gérard Allon,
whose gracious cooperation and generosity of spirit over the years
has enabled us to develop this virtually complete archive of his works;
Nissan N. Perez, who provided the introduction to this catalog; Sherman
H. Starr, Class of 1946, who provided the Judaica Division with
the Sherman H. Starr Judaica Library Publication Fund, income from
which funds this catalog; Dr. Shmuel Levenvirth and the staff of Dantec
Ltd., the Israeli high-tech company that has worked with the Judaica
Division for many years in digitizing and putting Israeli
photographs online; Daniel J. McCarron, Director, Educational
Graphics Group, WordTech/Flagship Press, for his work on the printing
of this catalog; Kenneth E. Carpenter, for his editing of the introductory
essays; Charles S. Fineman, for his translation from the
French original of Gérard Allon’s personal statement; Vardit Samuels,
Library Assistant in the Judaica Division, for her assistance in editing
and text preparation; Hadassa Schwartz, Littauer Hebraica Cataloger
in the Judaica Division, for her assistance in revising the
cataloging data for the inventory; and Elizabeth Vernon, Lee M. Friedman
Judaica Technical Services Librarian in the Judaica Division, for
compiling the inventory of Gérard Allon’s photographs in the Judaica
Collection and for assisting in all stages of this project.
CHARLES BERLIN
Lee M. Friedman Bibliographer in Judaica
Head, Judaica Division
VIOLET RADNOFSKY
Littauer Hebraica Technical and Research Services Librarian, Judaica Division
HARVARD LIBRARY
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
21 MARCH 2012
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