Auction 93 Part 1 - Manuscripts, Prints and Engravings, Objects and Facsimiles, from the Gross Family Collection, and Private Collections

The Birds' Head Haggadah – Facsimile Edition Published by Tarshish – Jerusalem, 1965–1967

Opening: $300
Sold for: $813
Including buyer's premium

The Birds' Head Haggadah of the Bezalel National Art Museum in Jerusalem. Two volumes. Jerusalem: Tarshish Books (printed by Kunstanstalt Max Jaffe, Vienna, Austria), 1965–67. Copy 372/600.
Color facsimile edition of the illuminated Birds' Head Haggadah (Germany, ca. 1300), printed on thick, high–quality paper. Two volumes: facsimile volume (1965), and an introductory volume edited by Dr. Moshe Spitzer (1967; English).
The Birds' Head Haggadah is the earliest illuminated German Haggadah extant as an independent book. It is distinguished by its extraordinarily unique illustrations of human figures with birds' heads – a most peculiar innovation likely devised by the illustrator as a means of abiding by the biblical prohibition against rendering a graven image. Most of the figures are depicted wearing the so–called Judenhut ("Jewish Hat"), the conical head covering Jews were legally required to wear in Germany. The illustrations depict various biblical scenes, holiday customs and the Final Redemption.


Vol. I: [48] leaves, [1] colophon leaf. Vol. II: 126 pages, [1] leaf, [31] plates (numbered 129–159). 28 cm. Upper edges gilt. Both volumes with gilt–decorated leather spine. Slipcased. Good condition. Minor defects to bindings and slipcases. Tear and abrasions to facsimile spine.


Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, FAC.54.

Facsimiles, Bibliophilia and Research Books
Facsimiles, Bibliophilia and Research Books