The Rothschild Miscellany
London: Facsimile Editions, 1989. Limited edition. Hardcover. 1/500 copies. The Rothschild Miscellany was commissioned by Moses ben Yekuthiel Hakohen in 1479. It was a time when the Jews in Italy came into contact with all sectors of society and many adopted the way of life of the gentile aristocracy. They enjoyed the favorable attitude of some of the great Italian Princes such as the Medici of Florence and the Este of Ferrara. The prohibition by the Church for Christians to lend money for interest was beneficial to the Jewish community, many of whom prospered. The wealthy Jew became a man of the Renaissance with a taste for letters and art, and pleasure in affluent living. Nonetheless, the Jews never became estranged from their Jewish intellectual and religious heritage. This was a period of unprecedented cultural activity amongst Italian Jewry, producing scholars, artists, poets and physicians. The Rothschild Miscellany, as it is now known, is the most elegantly and lavishly executed Hebrew manuscript of that era. From its inception it was planned as a sumptuous work to encompass, in minute detail, almost every custom of religious and secular Jewish life. The figure drawings and border decorations of the miniatures mirror the rich Italian Renaissance influence and were probably made in a workshop in the Ferrara region. Fanciful landscapes, spatial perspective settings and the precision of human and animal representations echo the style of the best artists who worked for the court of the Este in the third quarter of the fifteenth century. They may have been connected with the workshop of the artists who illuminated the famous Latin Bible of Borso d'Este. The Rothschild Miscellany consists of more than 37 religious and secular works. Among the religious books are Psalms, Proverbs and Job and a yearly prayer book including the Passover Haggadah. All have textual illustrations for each festival and prayers for special occasions. The secular books include philosophical, moralistic and scientific treatises. The text throughout the manuscript is accompanied by marginal notes and commentaries of the sages. This large collection of miscellaneous yet connected texts became the framework for an unprecedented programme of illumination. It contains a wealth of material illustrating almost every custom of daily life in a Jewish Renaissance household. Of 948 pages, 816 are decorated in minute detail in vibrant colours, gold and silver. No other Hebrew manuscript equals the richness and scope of the illumination of this Miscellany. The facsimile is bound in fine-grain morocco goatskin, blind-tooled on the front and back covers with morocco head and tail bands. The binding is secured by four silver clasps on morocco thongs; the thongs and clasps being attached to the binding by minute. The number of each facsimile volume is permanently blind-stamped by hand into the binding using metal dies. All the printing plates were destroyed, with rabbinical consent, so that no subsequent copies could be printed thus ensuring the uniqueness and value of the edition. The pages of the manuscript contain the minute pricking holes made by the scribe between which he ruled parallel lines to guide him in the writing of the text. They were often trimmed off before binding but in the Rothschild Miscellany some pricking is still evident on most of the pages. This is the first time that pricking holes have ever been reproduced in a facsimile – demanding a level of precision and accuracy previously unheard of in facsimile reproduction. Similarly, there is evidence that over the ages bookworm have attacked some of the pages - where visible, this has also been accurately reproduced. The facsimile is bound in fine-grain morocco goatskin, blind-tooled on the front and back covers with morocco head and tail bands. The binding is secured by four silver clasps on morocco thongs; the thongs and clasps being attached to the binding by minute silver nails. The facsimile is presented in a cloth-bound hinged slipcase edged in morocco together with a similar slipcase for the commentary volume. Five eminent scholars contributed to the commentary volume which describes the rich subject matter of the illustrations, the stylistic affinity and differences between the artists and their relation to general Italian illumination of the period, the historical and social background of the manuscript, the codicology, palaeography, religious and liturgical content of the Miscellany, and the binding. The commentary volume is illustrated with full-colour plates. It is produced as a separate volume, the same size as the facsimile, and bound in the finest blind-tooled morocco to complement the facsimile. The two volumes are presented in cloth-covered slip-cases, edged in goatskin. Text in Hebrew. Fine. Item #37317
Price: $9,000.00