Biblia (Antigue Testamento), exquisite edition of the Alba Bible – translation of the Bible to early Castilian Spanish, by R. Moshe Arragel. [Madrid], Imprenta Artistica, 1920-1922. Spanish. Two volumes.
Exquisite edition of the Alba Bible, in two volumes, accompanied with many printed plates – facsimiles of ornaments, illustrations and complete pages from the original manuscript (some in color).
The translation of the Bible to Castilian Spanish – the dominant dialect in modern Spain, known as the Alba Bible, was created between 1422-1430 in Maqueda, near Madrid. The translation project was commissioned by Don Luis de Guzmán, a high-ranking Churchman in Calatrava, and it was done under the supervision of R. Moshe Arragel (Mose Arragel de Guadalfajara), together with Christian scholars.
The colorful manuscript includes 334 miniatures of biblical scenes produced by Christian artists, who surprisingly tended to express the Jewish view of the Biblical text. The codex is known after its owners since the 17th century, the dukes of Alba and Berwick.

2 volumes. Vol. I: XXI, 845, [2] pages + [72] black & white and colored plates; Vol. II: [1] leaves, 922 pages + [45] plates. 42.5 cm. Good condition. Minor stains. Some leaves detached or partially detached. Decorated leather bindings, with defects and wear. Tears to spines. Both front boards detached.

Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv.

Two bibliophile editions of the Book of Esther. France and Germany, early 20th century.

1. Le Livre d'Esther, bilingual book of Esther, in Hebrew and French, with illustrations by Arthur Szyk. Paris: L'édition d'art H. Piazza, 1925.
Elaborate edition designed by Arthur Szyk, with twenty full-page colorful illustrations and in-text illustrations. The Hebrew text is handwritten and printed in lithograph, with illuminated initial word panels. Copy no. 919/950; bound in an elaborate, hand-illustrated parchment binding, with a Star of David and lettering on the spine.
50, [2], LXXVI pages, [4] leaves. 23 cm. Good condition. Minor wear to parchment binding.

2. Das Buch Esther, the Book of Esther in German, translated by Martin Luther. Leipzig: Insel, Ernst Ludwig Press, 1908.
Edition designed by the brothers Friedrich Wilhelm Kleukens and Christian Heinrich Kleukens, with illuminated initial word panels and two full-page illustrations, printed in black and gilt. Copy from a limited edition of 300 copies.
[1] leaf, XXIX, [2] pages + [2] plates (prints). Approx. 25 cm. Good condition. Minor stains. Small sticker inside front binding. Original leather binding with gilt decorations on front board. With abrasions and defects.

Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, NHB.227, ALE.14.

Three books illustrated by Ze'ev Raban, two of which inscribed by Raban. 1920s–1940s. Hebrew and English.

1. Song of Songs, illustrated by Ze'ev Raban. Berlin: HaSefer, 1923. Hebrew and English. First Edition.
Inscribed on title page: "to the family of Prof. B. Schatz, with friendship, Ze'ev Raban, 4.8.24, Jerusalem".
[31] leaves. 33.5 cm.

2. The Book of Esther, Illustrated by Zeev Raban, "Bezalel" Jerusalem. Jerusalem: Miryam, 5708 [1947?]. English translation of the Book of Esther, with Hebrew text and illustrations appearing on color plates designed by Raban. Handwritten inscription: Ze'ev Raban, 27th Kislev, 5709, 48.XII.29" (Hebrew).
[16] leaves.

 
3. The Story of Ruth, Graphically Told by Z. Raban. New York: American–Palestine Art Publishing Co., 1930. English. The book of Ruth in English translation, accompanied by 10 color plates by Ze'ev Raban, and a additional plate pasted on to the cover.
[13] leaves. 30 cm.

Conditions varies. The books were not examined thorougly, and are being sold as is.

Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv.

Megilat Starim… [Book of Secrets on the Works of Moses Montefiore, the Good and the Bad], by Ephraim Deinard. New York: Oriom Press, 1928.
A book about Moses Montefiore and his nephew–inheritor Joseph Sebag–Montefiore, and Deinard's claims pertaining to them. Printed in 50 copies only, "To be kept in libraries for remembrance and not for the popular readership…", on thick sheets, one side of which is of a special texture and gold–colored.
In the beginning of the book Deinard declares that he wishes to tell how "he [Montefiore] was made the idol of the miserable innocents".
Later Deinard writes that in fact Montefiore achieved nothing by his lobbying, that he was a miser and hard–hearted and that he closed his ears to the true needs of the poor of Palestine. In addition he claims that Sebag–Montefiore unjustly held in his possession property bought with the money of Judah Touro for Jerusalem's poor. At the end of the book are facsimile plates of a letter sent by Jerusalem's rabbis to Sebag–Montefiore. Deinard's claims are intertwined with his aggressive claims against Hassidism, Christianity and socialism, and he tends to accuse all of his enemies (including Montefiore) that they are tainted by all three.

24 columns, [2] plates, 36 cm. Good condition. Minor blemishes. Rebound, with original wrappers.

Ephraim Deinard (1846–1930) – bibliographer and Hebrew author, book collector and trader; one of the greatest Hebrew bibliographers of the modern era. Deinard was a historian and polemicist, considered a colorful and fascinating figure. He was born in the town of Sasmaka (currently Valdemārpils, Latvia). From a young age he embarked on numerous journeys around the world, studying different Jewish communities and collecting Hebrew books and manuscripts. In the 1880s he was the owner of a bookstore in Odessa. In 1888 he immigrated to the U.S., where he engaged in book trading; among other things, he attempted to found an agricultural Jewish settlement in Nevada. After this attempt failed, he immigrated to Palestine in 1913, settling in Ramla. There he also promoted the founding of an agricultural Jewish settlement, but in 1916 he was expelled by the Turks, forcing him to return to the United States.

Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, B.2333.

Collection of books dealing with early Hebrew manuscripts, including many facsimile photographs:
• A Series of XV. Facsimiles of Manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible, with descriptions by Christian D. Ginsburg. London: James Hyatt, 1897. Includes one plate.
• Die Hebräischen Handschriften der Nationalbibliothek in Wien, by Arthur Zacharias Schwarz. Vienna: Alfred Hölder, 1914.
• Die Hebräischen Handschriften der Nationalbibliothek in Wien, by Arthur Zacharias Schwarz. Leipzig, 1925. Includes plates, some colored.
• The Hebrew Scripts, by Solomon A. Birnbaum, two parts in two volumes. Part I – text, Leiden, 1971. Part II – plates, London, 1954–1957.
• The Hebrew Paleography Project, Manuscrits médiévaux en caractères hébraïques portant des indications de date jusqu'à 1540. (Medieval Manuscripts in Hebrew Characters), edited by Colette Sirat, Malachi Beit–Arie and Mordechai Glatzer. Jerusalem, 1972–1986. Hebrew and French. Complete set in seven parts.
Descriptions of Hebrew manuscripts from the early 12th century until the mid–16th century found in libraries in Israel and France. Plates with facsimile photographs of parts of the manuscripts in a separate volume and three portfolios.
5 items in 12 volumes. Size and condition vary.

Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv.