By
– August 30, 2011
From 1912 through 1916, Ephraim Deinard, a Jewish bookman of exceptional breadth, arranged for the sale of almost 20,000 volumes of Judaica to the Library of Congress, the beginning of one of the finest collections in the world. Among those volumes was an illuminated haggadah by Joel ben Simeon (c.1420 – c.1492), a prolific and unusual medieval scribe, a professional who illustrated as well as calligraphed his work.
This facsimile edition of one of Joel’s best preserved manuscripts opens many doors on the Jewish world of the late Middle Ages. Living and working in Germany and Italy, Joel drew on both Ashkenazic and Italian religious and artistic traditions. In a brief and informative essay, David Stern, professor of classical Jewish literature at the University of Pennsylvania, covers the history of the seder and haggadah and explores Joel’s haggadah for its preservation of some lost practices and its picture of Jewish life at a critical period in cultural history — the dawn of printing. An essay by Katrin Kogman-Appel, associate professor of arts at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, analyzes Joel’s illustrations, noting his perceptive portrayals of all social classes as well as the influences on his art and, in turn, his art’s influence on subsequent haggadot.
This facsimile edition of one of Joel’s best preserved manuscripts opens many doors on the Jewish world of the late Middle Ages. Living and working in Germany and Italy, Joel drew on both Ashkenazic and Italian religious and artistic traditions. In a brief and informative essay, David Stern, professor of classical Jewish literature at the University of Pennsylvania, covers the history of the seder and haggadah and explores Joel’s haggadah for its preservation of some lost practices and its picture of Jewish life at a critical period in cultural history — the dawn of printing. An essay by Katrin Kogman-Appel, associate professor of arts at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, analyzes Joel’s illustrations, noting his perceptive portrayals of all social classes as well as the influences on his art and, in turn, his art’s influence on subsequent haggadot.
The pleasure in this facsimile lies in its delightful illustrations and innovative calligraphy, graced with Joel’s unique decorative touches, and the wine stains and notes left by its various owners, indicating that the haggadah was actually used. In turning the pages of Joel’s haggadah at leisure, readers may well imagine its use for over four centuries. Bibliography, notes.
Check out a sample of pages from Harvard University Press
Check out a sample of pages from Harvard University Press
Maron L. Waxman, retired editorial director, special projects, at the American Museum of Natural History, was also an editorial director at HarperCollins and Book-of-the-Month Club.
