Decorated manuscript, Passover Haggadah and Passover prayers, with Shir HaShirim, produced by Yitzchak Meir Chaim Moshe Gabbai. Baghdad, 1853.
Complete manuscript, masterfully scribed and decorated. Semi-cursive and square Oriental script. Passover prayers and Haggadah decorated with geometric ornaments in ink. Large ornamental initial word panels in Shir HaShirim, decorated with colorful foliate designs and flowers (in yellow, orange, brown and reddish-purple hues).
The floral ornaments and the shapes of the letters in the initial word panels are identical to those found in a group of decorated Esther scrolls also produced by Yitzchak Meir Chaim Moshe Gabbai of Baghdad, in ca. 1848-1854. As evident from comparison of the present manuscript to the Esther scrolls produced by Gabbai, the vivid colors, the accurate and meticulous coloring, the symmetric ornaments and especially the meticulously executed stylized letters – were all prominent characteristics of his artwork, which give his manuscripts their trademark beauty.
From this group of scrolls, only six scrolls are extant today, three of which are held in museum collections (two in the Israel Museum – one in the Feuchtwanger collection and the other in the Stieglitz collection; the third is held in the Hechal Shlomo collection). These scrolls, known for their beauty and quality, appeared in many exhibitions and are documented in reference books. Nevertheless, for many years the identity of the artist who produced these scrolls was not known, and only in the 1980s was Gabbai identified as the artist, by comparison to the present manuscript, which was previously held in the Meir Benayahu collection (see: Catalog of the Stieglitz Collection, item 191).
Another interesting fact related to this manuscript and the scrolls is that two of the aforementioned scrolls (and presumably also the present manuscript) where previously part of the collection of David Suleiman Sassoon, whose mother Farha (Flora) Sassoon was the daughter of Ezekiel Gabbai, possibly related to the scribe of these manuscripts.
The manuscript includes: Passover Arvit prayer, Biur Chametz and Passover Haggadah with Judeo-Arabic translation (sharh), with the piyyut Emunim Archu Shevach by "Aharon HaKohen", and Shir HaShirim with Targum and Judeo-Arabic translation (verse by verse).
The beginning of the manuscript is dated Thursday, 19th Kislev 1853.
Writer's colophon at the end of the Arvit prayer: "The writer, I… Yitzchak Meir Chaim Moshe Gabbai… completed the Passover Arvit prayer on Tuesday, 23rd Kislev 1853, in the capital city of Baghdad". Following the colophon, the writer added curses in Judeo-Arabic to anyone who steals the manuscript. His name appears many more times throughout the manuscript. Additional colophon at the end of Shir HaShirim, dated 24th Cheshvan 1853.

[71] written leaves (+ blank leaves). 14 cm. Good condition. Stains (dark stains in several places). Minor marginal tears to a few leaves. Original ornamented leather binding, with minor blemishes.

Provenance:
1. Collection of Prof. Meir Benayahu.
2. The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, IQ.011.014.