A LITURGICAL COMPENDIUM, WRITTEN AND ILLUMINATED BY Jacob Sopher ben Judah Leib Shamash OF BERLIN.

This artistic prayer-book would have been destined as a gift to the matron of the family, containing as it does the three traditional rituals reserved for Jewish women: Niddah (ritual purity), Challah (separating a portion of the dough as a donation to the Priest) and Hadlakath HaNer (kindling the Sabbath lights). The scribe-artist Jacob Sopher ben Judah Leib Shamash was active in Hamburg and Altona between the years 1717-41 and some 40 manuscripts by him are known to be extant. For two other illuminated manuscripts by Jacob Shamash sold at auction, see Christie's New York, June 23rd, 1999, Lot 128 and Sotheby’s New York, March 18th, 2004, Lot 51. See E. Schrijver, Be’otiyyot Amsterdam, Hebrew Manuscript Production in Central Europe: The Case of Jacob ben Judah leib Shmas, in: Quaerrendo, Vol. XX (1990) pp. 24-62. And, I. Fishof, Yakob Sofer mi-Berlin: A Portrait of a Jewish Scribe, in: The Israel Museum Journal, Volume VI (1987) pp. 83-94