Ink and engraving on parchment; turned wood.

Esther scroll hand-written in neat calligraphic square script on 3 high-quality parchment membranes sewn together, 12 text columns (including the column with names of Haman's ten sons, where the engraving was printed) + a blessings column added at the end, 33 lines per column. Includes enlarged letters and verses and initial panels. Frames illustrated with copper engraving. Sewn to a wooden handle.

This scroll is one of a group of varied engraved Esther scrolls produced in Amsterdam over the course of the 18th century. The present version, with illustrated frames, apparently printed in the mid to late 18th century, includes oval medallions on the upper margins depicting characters from the Purim story. These scrolls generally included an opening column decorated with engravings and with the blessings added by hand; in the present copy the column is lacking (and was apparently cut off at an early stage), and only the left margin remains, with a pillar topped by a lion.

The concluding blessings are written in the final column, with an engraved illustration of five figures representing characters from the Purim story.

This type of Megillah was determined in 2002, by watermark, to have originated in Amsterdam.

Decorated Esther scroll. [Iran / Kurdistan, 19th century].

Ink on parchment; carved wood.

Esther scroll, written on 7 parchment membranes, 33 text columns, 11-14 lines per column, with serifs (Tagim).

All text columns bordered with thin frames decorated with a repeating vegetal pattern. At edges of first and last membranes, vegetal and floral decorations, in characteristic Near-Eastern style, particularly that of Iran and Kurdistan. Rolled on original hand-carved wooden handle.

Esther scroll. Palestine/Israel, [ca. mid-20th century].

Ink on parchment; sheet iron, shaped and soldered.

in miniature format (3 cm.), written on 5 sheets of parchment, consisting of 24 columns of text, 14 rows per column. Most of the text – with the exception of the first and last sheets – with "tagim" (decorative "crownlets") over designated letters. The first and last sheets were exchanged with newer sheets that lack these "tagim."

"HaMelech" Esther scroll (most columns headed with the word "HaMelech").

The scroll is housed in an appropriately-sized cylindrical case, a product of folk art, fashioned out of shaped iron sheet. The case has a small handle and removable lid.

Height of vellum sheets: approx. 3 cm. Height of case: 8.5 cm. Overall good condition. Original first and last sheets of vellum scroll replaced with newer sheets. Lid of case probably not original. Interior of case padded with lining.

Tikun Sofrim, year-round Torah portions and Haftarot. Amsterdam: for Samuel Rodrigues Mendes, Moses Sarfati and David Gomes da Silva, 1726.

Title pages illustrated with copper engravings by Bernard Picart. Divisional title page for Haftarot. Includes table of Torah readings for the festivals, and tables in Spanish (folding leaves), with divisional title page in Hebrew and Spanish.

After the Haftarot section are bound leaves which usually appear at the beginning of the volume: poems in praise of the edition, cantillation, a chart for the festival readings, corrections by the proofreader, and more. Two leaves missing, with approbation and chart of double Torah portions.

Stamps of "Saadat Bachurim" society (Amsterdam).

[3], 3-327, [2], 329-446, [10] leaves; 9-16 pages; [3] folding leaves with charts, [2] leaves. [6] leaves originally bound at the beginning of the book are bound after the Haftarot section. Missing [2] leaves at the beginning of the book. 17 cm. High-quality paper. Good condition. Stains. Small tears and creases to a few leaves. Old binding, with leather spine. Light wear and light damage to binding.