Chamishah Chumshei Torah.

AUCTION 54 | Wednesday, March 21st, 2012 at 1:00

Fine Judaica: Printed Books, Manuscripts Autograph Letters, Graphic & Ceremonial Art

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Lot 78

(BIBLE, Hebrew). Pentateuch.

Chamishah Chumshei Torah.

One of 850 copies printed on Van Gelder paper. Typeface designed by Marcus Behmer. Woodcut decorative title in blue, brown and black. Initial word of each of the Five Books surrounded by arabesques and printed in brown and black, few verses and single words printed in red. * With Prospectus laid in. An uncut copy. Original balf-backed boards, spine lettered in gilt. Some wear. Folio.

Berlin: Officina Serpentis for Soncino Gesellschaft 1931-33

Est: $1,200 - $1,800

PRICE REALIZED $900

<<“RANKS AMONG THE MOST BEAUTIFUL HEBREW BOOKS EVER PRINTED.”>> The most ambitious undertaking of the Soncino Gesellschaft der Freunde des Jüdischen Buches, an organization of Jewish bibliophiles in Germany. The intended completion of the entire Bible was aborted due to the rise of Nazism. According to A. J. Karp, the verse in Deuteronomy 33:29, “Your enemies shall dwindle away before you, and you will tread upon their high places,” was highlighted here in red, in silent but eloquent protest against the rise of Nazi brutality. See A. J. Karp, Library of Congress Catalogue pp. 31-34; L. Avrin, The Art of the Hebrew Book in the Twentieth Century, in: New York Public Library Catalogue, A Sign and a Witness (1988) p. 135.