A new issue of the journal Judaica Bohemiae (51/2016, 1) came out at the end of June 2016. This issue is exceptional in terms of scope and content, as it is entirely devoted to the famous Jewish scholar of the Renaissance era, David Gans. As implied by the subtitle – David Gans (1541–1613): A Reconsideration – it provides the most recent views and knowledge about Gans’ life and work. The studies in this volume owe their origin to the conference ‘David Gans (1541–1613) after Four Centuries: The Legacy of an Early Modern Jewish Polymath’ at the Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Arts, in 2013, which was co-organized by the Prague Centre for Jewish Studies at the Charles University and the Kurt and Ursula Schubert Center for Jewish Studies at Palacký University, Olomouc. The volume starts with a ground-breaking study by Alexandr Putík, Daniel Polakovič and Jiří Šulc, titled ‘New Findings about the Life of David Gans (1541–1613) and his Closest Relatives: A Study and Source Edition’. Pavel Sládek’s essay explores Gans’ key work, the historical chronicle Tzemah David, from many different perspectives, placing it in the broader context of the literature at the time. Rachel L. Greenblatt’s study examines the concept of time and space in this work. Carsten Wilke provides a penetrating comparison between Gans’ chronicle and the historical work Shalshelet ha-kabbalah by the Sephardi author Gedaliah Ibn Yahya. On the basis of an analysis of Tzemah David and, in particular, of Gans’ astronomical work Nehmad ve-naim, Sacha Stern deals with Gans’ contribution to the study of the Jewish calendar. Daniel J. Lasker looks at how Gans’ work was utilized by the Karaites. Tamás Visi presents a detailed textual analysis that explores the history of Gans’ Nehmad ve-naim.

The final section of the journal contains a review by Jiřina Šedinová of O. Bláha, R. Dittmann, K. Komárek, D. Polakovič and L. Uličná's book Kenaanské glosy ve středověkých hebrejských rukopisech s vazbou na české země [Canaanite Glosses in Medieval Hebrew Manuscripts Related to the Czech Lands] (Praha, Academia, 2015) and a review by Antonín Kostlán of Marie Buňatová's Pražští kupci na cestách. Předbělohorská Praha a středoevropské trhy [Prague Merchants on their Journeys: Prague and Central European Markets in the Period before the Battle of White Mountain] (Praha: Nakladatelství MISHKEZY, 2013).