Maimonides: Faith in Reason with Alberto Manguel

Maimonides: Faith in Reason is an exploration of the life and work of Maimonides (1138-1204), the medieval philosopher, physician, and religious thinker, author of The Guide of the Perplexed, from one of the world’s foremost bibliophiles.

In this biography, Alberto Manguel examines the question of Maimonides’ universal appeal—he was celebrated by Jews, Arabs, and Christians alike. In our time, when the need for rationality and recognition of the truth is more vital than ever, Maimonides can help us find strategies to survive with dignity in an uncertain world.

To provide context to what is sure to be an engaging discussion, the Jewish Public Library’s Eddie Paul will talk about the oldest printing of Maimonides’ work in the JPL’s collection, the Milot ha-Higayon (Treatise on Logic, 1527), as well as give an overview of the famous Maimonidean controversy of the late 12th-early 13th centuries.

About Alberto Manguel

Alberto Manguel was born in Buenos Aires in 1948 and is an Argentine-Canadian anthologist, translator, essayist, novelist, editor and a former Director of the National Library of Argentina.

Manguel is the author of numerous non-fiction books such as The Dictionary of Imaginary Places (co-written with Gianni Guadalupi in 1980), A History of Reading (1996), The Library at Night (2007) and Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey: A Biography (2008); and novels such as News From a Foreign Country Came (1991).

Though almost all of Manguel’s books were written in English, two of his novels (El regreso and Todos los hombres son mentirosos) were written in Spanish. Manguel has also written film criticism such as Bride of Frankenstein (1997) and collections of essays such as Into the Looking Glass Wood (1998).

For more than 20 years, Manguel has edited a number of literary anthologies on a variety of themes or genres ranging from erotica and gay stories to fantastic literature and mysteries.

About Eddie Paul

Eddie Paul oversees collections development, cataloguing, and reference services at the JPL and for the last few years has also developed education outreach programming. This includes the Michael D. Paul Rare Books Initiative, the “Where Do You Think You Come From” genealogy workshops for young people, and a series of other projects designed to create convergences between the JPL’s Archives and Special Collections and the public through storytelling.

He has worked in various capacities at the Humanities and Social Sciences Library at McGill University, Scott Library (York University), the Toronto Public Library, and Library & Archives Canada.

In 2014, he curated the JPL’s first rare book exhibit and catalogue entitled “A Roomful of Dwellings”, in addition to having co-curated an exhibit in 2017 with the Jacob Lowy Collection (Library & Archives Canada) entitled “Decanting Memory: 500 Years of Jewish Printing”. The rare book workshop programme has included collaborations with LAC, University of Toronto, McGill, Carleton, the Montreal Holocaust Museum, the National Library of Israel, as well as important Judaica rare book collections in universities across the US.

Can’t attend the live session but still want to listen to the discussion? You’re in luck – we will be rebroadcasting the event at a reduced price on Sunday, April 23rd at 1pm EST. Please register for the rebroadcast event below:

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/maimonides-faith-in-reason-with-alberto-manguel-rebroadcast-tickets-546483265157