The Haggadah. Executed by Arthur Szyk. Edited by Cecil Roth. Parallel English and Hebrew text

AUCTION 9 | Tuesday, March 28th, 2000 at 1:00
Fine Judaica: Books, Manuscripts and Works of Art

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Lot 226
(HAGADAH).

The Haggadah. Executed by Arthur Szyk. Edited by Cecil Roth. Parallel English and Hebrew text

Printed Entirely on Vellum, Richly Illustrated in Color by Szyk. Number 47 of 125 numbered copies for sale in the British Empire. Signed by the Artist and Editor. With original Prospectus and Specimen 12 full-page illustrations and 34 pages with small illustrations or decorative boarders. Pictorial doublures on silk. Original royal blue levent morocco, gilt- tooled pictorial inlay by Sangorski & Sutcliffe; three-quarter matching levent folding case lined with velvet. Lg. 4to Yudlov 3861; Yaari 2285

London: Beaconsfield Press 1939

Est: $8,000 - $10,000
PRICE REALIZED $17,000
The accompanying Prospectus (rarely found) provides affirmation to the extraordinarily high production values by which the Hagadah was conceived by the publishers. Not only in having the great Stanley Morison provide testimony, but even justifying the high price demanded of the work: “A monument of sacred art and beautiful craftsmanship. The work represents the acme of book-production and color-printing of our age...(It) will remain...long after other creations of the 20th century have disappeared.” “You may think the price of One Hundred Guineas sounds unusually high, but when you have been good enough to consider the full facts, you will appreciate that the value - and extremely good value - is there at this price.” Provenance: Mr. S.W. Smith, Founder of British Lion Films, London. - To his Daughter, Winnipeg, Manitoba. - To her Son, The Solicitor General, Republic of Kiribati (formerly The Gilbert Islands), Central Pacific (See Also Lots 134 and 135) szyk