Limited Edition Facsimile Copy of the "Most Elegantly and Lavishly Executed Hebrew Manuscript" of the Italian Renaissance ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT. Rothschild Miscellany. London: Facsimile Editions, 1989. Full Description:
Rothschild Miscellany.
London: Facsimile Editions, 1989.
Facsimile edition, limited to 500 numbered copies and 50 'Ad Personam' copies, this being number 345. Two volumes including the 'Scholarly Commentary' volume and the facsimile manuscript volume. The facsimile and companion volume are accompanied by a limitation page/certificate bearing the seal of the Israel Museum, the home of the original manuscript. The certificate is signed by Iris Fishof, Curator of Judaica at the Israel Museum and by the publisher.
Facsimile Manuscript: (8 1/4 x 6 1/4 inches; 210 x 155 mm). 948 pages, of which 816 are illuminated. Printed on facsimile vellum which was created over a process of a year in a paper mill in Italy, specifically for this facsimile and has been acclaimed to be the closest likeness to vellum ever achieved. It was printed offset litho in up to twelve colors. The original manuscript was disbound and photographed with a glass overlay to eliminate all curvature towards the spine. The printed page is the exact same size as the original. Three different types of gold found in the original have been reproduced here in the facsimile, Burnished gold, craftsmen applied the leaf by hand in a "building-up" process to achieve the raised look as in the original. Flat gold, applied by hand using metal leaf. And Powdered Gold, applied to all illuminations that contain it in the original. In the original manuscript, the scribe pricked minute holes on either side of the folio between which he would rule lines for his script. These holes have been reproduced on the pages of this facsimile, the first time this has been done. There is also actual worming holes, reproduced as there are in the original. The pages have been cut to the exact same size and shape as the original and then aged exactly the same and then all edges gilt with 23 carat gold.
Bound in dark maroon morocco goatskin over wooden boards. Covers and spine elaborately tooled in blind. The top cover has four silver clasps that are attached by leather thongs, attached to the book by small silver nails. Some very minor rubbing to boards and spine. Housed in a morocco-tipped cloth hinged slipcase with a blind-tooled morocco strap closure. A fine example of this amazing facsimile.
Commentary volume: (8 1/4 x 6 1/4 inches; 210 x 155 mm). 256 pp, with errata slip laid in. Containing a full table of contents, and all texts and illustrations are indexed and cross-referenced. Bound to match the facsimile manuscript in full maroon morocco goatskin. Elaborately tooled in blind on boards and spine. Housed in a morocco-tipped cloth slipcase. "This volume is in itself the most comprehensive work ever written about the Rothschild Miscellany." (prospectus)
"The Rothschild Miscellany was commissioned by Moses ben Yekuthiel Hacohen probably around 1470 at the height of the Renaissance in Italy... 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..." (from the prospectus).
"The Rothschild Miscellany consists of more than 70 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... This large collection of miscellaneous yet connected texts became the framework for an unprecedented programme of illumination... No other Hebrew manuscript equals the richness and scope of the illumination of this Miscellany." (from the prospectus).
HBS 69578.
$8,500.
Price: $8,500.00
Item #69578