[Hagadah shel Pesach] with short marginal comments and laws
Contains over fifty woodcut illustrations, plus three fully decorated pages with engraved borders in a monumental Gothic style which Cecil Roth describes as "the culmination of the achievement."
f. 1r: The first page, in Roth’s words: "Shows the service for the searching of the leaven, within a decorative white-on-black border in the spirit of the early German Renaissance, including…the bucrania characteristic of Roman architecture…and a vignette showing the pious householder, taper in hand as he searches for leaven."
f. 3v: Text of "Keha Lachma Anya" with the initial word historiated and "surmounted by the sacerdotal badge of the hands joined in blessing, symbol of the Priesthood, with the name of the printer, Gershom Cohen flanked on either side by cherubs. Below is a cut depicting the judgement of Solomon…while to the right and left, under elaborate columns are muscular figures of David and Goliath."
f. 25r: Text of “Shephoch Chamathcha” is the most sumptuous and impressive of the fully decorated pages. Central within the text is a vignette of the Messiah astride a donkey.The text is flanked by figures of Adam and Eve at the upper part of the page; and lower-down, the figure of Judith bearing a sword in one hand and the head of the Syrian General Holophernes in the other. Facing opposite, is the mighty Samson grasping the Gates of Gaza. The lowest register depicts a shield with a rampant lion and bifurcated tail along with the Bohermian Coat of Arms supported by two mythological fur-covered wild men. To the left of the shield is the letter "Shin" likely the initial letter of the unknown artist. (This initial also appears in three of the marginal woodcuts).
ff. 30 (of 38). Lacking final eight leaves, the text of which has been appended in manuscript on four further leaves in a 19th-century Hebrew square Italian hand. (Note: The lost pages are text only and do not contain any decorative elements). Issued without a title-page, the first leaf is mounted and inverted with the text appearing on the recto with the verso appropriately blank. Pages trimmed with some small loss in places, f. 4 loss of few words of upper portion replaced in a 19th-century hand, marginal illustrations of Angels on f.12 v and f.13 v partially removed. Browned throughout, variously stained in places, some marginal wear occasionally with paper repair, few non-intrusive short tears. Signature on first page "Lazzaro Vitto Fanno." Early 19th century Italian patterned boards, rubbed, spine chipped. Sm. folio.
References: Yaari 6; Yudlov 7; Yerushalmi, Haggadah & History plates 9-13. See also Die Pessach Haggadah des Gerschom Kohen (Facsimile edition), Berlin, 1926 with introduction; and Bruno Italianer, Journal of Jewish Studies (1955) Vol. VI, pp. 227-35.
Prague : Gershom Cohen 1526
Est: $120,000 - $150,000
PRICE REALIZED $120,000
<<THE MOST CELEBRATED PRINTED BOOK IN THE HISTORY OF HEBREW PRINTING.>>
<< THE MAGNIFICENT PRAGUE HAGADAH SERVED AS A PROTOTYPE FOR ALL FUTURE ILLUSTRATED HAGADAHS FOR CENTURIES.>>
Only five complete paper copies of the Prague Hagadah are recorded, housed in: The Bodleian Library, Oxford; Royal Library, Copenhagen; Jewish Theological Seminary, New York; Schocken Library, Jerusalem and the Klagsbald Collection, Paris.
The late art-historian Cecil Roth memorably described the Prague Hagadah in the following mellifluous terms: “This magnificent work, with its superb borders, poised lettering, stately initials, marginal cuts and decorations and its assured balance, is among the most distinguished productions of the sixteenth century press. The beauty of the work lies above all in the superb disposition of the type and the exquisite balance of the pages. Words cannot convey the full beauty of this work - every page of which justifies a long, detailed and affectionate description." (Extracted from: The Illustrated Hagadah in: Studies in Bibliography and Booklore Vol. VII (1965) pp. 37-39).
"(The Prague Hagadah) is perhaps the most beautiful in the constellation of Hebrew printing." (Printed Illuminated Haggadoth in: Aresheth Vol. III, p. 10).
Provenance: From the Estate of a Swiss family and by descent, to the West Coast.
