Dr. Paul Jacobi’s private library was essentially made up of two sections – works of a general nature (some 11,000 volumes) and works relating to genealogy (more than 1,000 titles).

He bequeathed the former to the Jewish National and University Library in Jerusalem. These books reflect Dr. Jacobi’s extraordinarily wide-ranging interests, covering archaeology, philosophy, art, poetry, literature, history, sociology, ethnography  and more.

The works of relevance to genealogy, and Jewish genealogy in particular, were bequeathed to the “Jacobi International Center for Research on Jewish Genealogy”, which was set up in the Jewish National and University Library in Jerusalem shortly after Dr. Jacobi’s death. In due course, they devolved to the International Institute for Jewish Genealogy and Paul Jacobi Center, which was set up in 2004.

Broadly speaking, they are divided in almost equal parts between works in Hebrew and in other languages (mainly German but also English, Spanish and French). These  again sub-divide into three main categories: (i) encyclopedias and atlases; (ii) family histories and biographical portraits; and (iii) works on Jewish and European history and culture.

Most of these genealogical works are readily available to readers, and are located on the open stacks in the Jewish genealogy section (floor level -2) of the Ilona and Hugo Lowy Main Reading Halls at the National Library of Israel in Jerusalem:  https://www.nli.org.il/en

Dr. Jacobi’s monographs and personal archive (including unfinished families) may be ordered for viewing, either in-person or by ordering a scan, via the Library’s online catalogue: https://www.nli.org.il/en/archives/NNL_ARCHIVE_AL990029072770205171/NLI