Hagadah shel Pesach. With commentary of Rabbi Joseph of Padua

(HAGADAH)

Daniel Zanetti

Venice

1601

Each page within elaborate woodcut illustrated and textual borders

Yudlov 370; Yaari 29

The four Hagadahs printed in Venice between 1599-1604 are of considerable historical importance. They are transitional experiments between the Mantua Hagadahs of 1560 and 1568 and the definitive Venetian editions of 1609 and 1629. The beautiful Mantuan woodcuts remain but often with changes in both location and meaning, the Prague typography is replaced. The preliminary page has the Order of the Seder service appearing in three languages: Judeo-Italian, Yiddish and Ladino, reflective of the languages concurrently active in the Venetian ghetto. This page was a forecast of the eventual trilingual translation of the entire text that would take place nearly a decade later. The present Hagadah is the first to bear a title page embellished with woodcut illustrations. The type is also larger and bolder than previous editions. The vivid woodcut illustrations of Egyptians seen drowning in the sea, the Hebrew slaves building Pithom and Raamses, Pharaoh and Moses, the Four Sons, contribute to this unique production. See Yerushalmi 34-40