A SUGGESTION to write the present book reached me in the spring of 1898. At
that time my library contained several hundreds of volumes of the best
Judeo-German (Yiddish) literature, which had been brought together by dint of
continued attention and, frequently, by mere chance, for the transitoriness of
its works, the absence of any and all bibliographies, the almost absolute
absence of a guide into its literature, and the whimsicalness of its book trade
made a systematic selection of such a library a difficult problem to solve. Not
satisfied with the meagre details which could be gleaned from internal
testimonies in the works of the Judeo-German writers, I resolved to visit the
Slavic countries for the sake of gathering data, both literary and
biographical, from which anything like a trustworthy history of its literature
could be constructed. A recital of my journey will serve as a means of
orientation to the future investigator in this or related fields, and will at
the same time indicate my obligations to the men and the books that made my
sketch possible.
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