Seder Haggadah Shel Pesah, ke-Minhag Ashkenaz u-Sefarad (Passover Haggadah According to the Ashkenazi and Sephardi Traditions) [THE AMSTERDAM HAGGADAH]
Amsterdam: Be-veit ha-meshutafim [Asher Anshil ben Eliezer ve-Yisakhar Ber ben Avraham Eliezer]/ Moses Wiesel, 1695. First edition. Hardcover. Small folio (29 by 18.5 cm). Collation: [aleph]-[vav]4 [zayin]2 (= 26 numbered leaves). Additional engraved title page, engraved folding map at rear; main title with woodcut vignette; 14 half-page engraved illustrations in the text. Contemporary quarter calf over dark brown pastepaper boards (skilfully rebacked). Images of Moses and Aaron at engraved title excised, the seven small engraved vignettes along with letterpress text of engraved title and imprint mounted on old paper. Old marginal repairs at main title (resulting in slight loss of initial letters along right margin) and several leaves; slight, strictly marginal worming and occasional tears. Stained throughout (sometimes heavily, though not impairing legibility). Map mounted to reinforce tears (with virtually no loss of text or engraved imagery, apart from printed border at right side). A fair copy, at best; despite all defects, the half-page engraved illustrations have survived intact, with minimal staining. Housed in new maroon buckram slipcase.
First edition of this gorgeously illustrated work now referred to simply as the Amsterdam Haggadah. The first such work to be illustrated with copperplate engravings, it ranks among the most imitated of the Jewish manuals for the Passover seder. The popularity of these illustrations can be attested by the huge number of reprint editions over the centuries. Fourteen finely printed half-page engravings appear throughout the text. Some of these images illustrate the traditional content of the Passover seder or the Exodus story, while others reference other biblical tales. Images include: the Rabbis of Bene Brak discussing the Passover story, the four sons, Abraham smashing the idols of his father, Abraham welcoming the three angels, Moses slaying the Egyptian overseer, the rescuing Moses from the river, Moses and Aaron coming to Pharaoh (w/ staves turning to snakes), the ten plagues, the Egyptian army drowning in the Red Sea, the Exodus, the receiving of the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai, the eating of the Pascal Lamb, King David composing his psalms, and finally an exterior view of the Jewish Temple with the cityscape of Jerusalem in the background. All images are captioned with relevant passages in Hebrew. The engravings were all created by Abraham ben Jacob, a German convert to Judaism who had moved to Amsterdam, (although some sources over the years misattributed them to financier Moses Wiesel) 6 of which were adaptations and/or modifications of previous images by Swiss artist Matthäus Merian (1593-1650), from his original work "Icones Biblicae" (1625-30).
In addition to the in text engravings, there is famously fold-out engraved biblical map of the Holy Land in a notable format. Measuring a total of 19.5 by 11.5", the map shows the land of Israel, the Wilderness of Sinai and Egypt in landscape orientation looking eastward towards the top of the map. It traces the journey of the Israelites starting with the Exodus from Egypt, through the Sinai, and into the Land of Israel. The map is detailed, showing the areas of the twelve tribes, important locations and cities as well as geographic features including the Red Sea, Mount Sinai, the Dead Sea, the Sea of Galilee and many others. Additional illustrations appear near the bottom, along with a legend. This beautiful work, also by Abraham ben Jacob, is considered among the earliest, if not the first map of its kind to be printed within a Hebrew publication. It is now known to have been heavily based on the previously printed 1620 map, in Hebrew, by Jacob ben Abraham Zaddiq and Abraham Goos (1590 – ca. 1643), which itself was based on the map of 1590 by Christian Kruik van Adrichom (Adrichem), printed in Latin.
Text throughout is printed in Hebrew, with smaller text in Rashi script underneath, containing famous commentary on the Passover Haggadah by acclaimed Portuguese Rabbi and scholar Isaac ben Judah Abarbanel (1437–1508). The verso of the title page contains the order of the Passover seder with brief instructions in both Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) and Yiddish (Judeo-German), a nod to the subtitle which references both the Ashkenazi and Sephardi traditions.
Provenance and annotations: Full page of text (appx. 1500 words) in neat Hebrew cursive at front endleaf, which discusses aspects of the Haggadah text; inscription in German at front endleaf by Isidor Adler who mentions his friend, Hermann Mechlenburg, dated March 1906; old annotations throughout in at least two hands. In one notable instance the Hebrew phrase l'shana ha-ba'ah be-hamburg (next year in Hamburg!) has been added in fine block characters above the traditional phrase l'shana ha-ba'ah bi-yerushalayim (next year in Jerusalem). fair. Item #55262
Hebrew title: סדר הגדה של פסח כמנהג אשכנז וספרד
Alternate transliterations: Seder Hagadah shel Pesah, Seder Hagadah sel Pesah
References: Friedberg 278, Fuks (HTN) II 521; Yudlov (Haggadah) 93; Vinograd Amsterdam 627; Ya’ari no. 59; Laor 876 (Map); Nebenzahl pp.138-1389 (Map); Yerushalmi plate 59-62; Rosenau, "Vision of the Temple", p.135, 146-7.
Price: $6,500.00