La Bibliotheque de Richard Simon

The Municipal Library of Rouen holds practically all that survives of the library of Richard Simon, the scholar of Dieppe origin, generally considered to be the founder of biblical studies in France. In spite of loss and destruction, an important collection of some hundred of Simon's books has come down to us. Amongst these books several heavily annotated volumes give us some insight into the working methods of this biblical critic. Nearly half of the works which survive today are in Hebrew or relate to the Jews. Several of these books has previously belonged to notable Hebrew scholars such as Cinquarbres, Vatable and Postel. Another fairly well preserved group relates to oriental beliefs. On the other hand there are comparatively few survivals from the books which Simon must have used most frequently (Bibles, patrologia, Catholic theology).