COURTESY OF THE HEBRAIC SECTION, AFRICAN AND MIDDLE EAST DIVISION, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

INSCRIBED ON THE BACK of the Library of Congress Torah scroll sheet, this bilingual Russian-Hebrew notice reveals that, in 1863, the manuscript was presented to Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia, younger brother of the Russian Emperor (Czar) Alexander II. Other circumstances make it conceivable that it was brought to Crimea by the Karaite scholar, leader, and manuscript collector Abraham ben Samuel Firkovich, just like one of the most important manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible, the St. Petersburg Codex. Firkovich (1786–1874) acquired many Hebrew, Arabic, and Samaritan manuscripts during his travels in the Middle East.