The Haggadah text is written in vocalized square script; the instructions and the rhyming Yiddish texts accompanying the illustrations are written in Ashkenazic semi-cursive ("Rashi") script.

At the center of the title page, the scribe signs his name:
"Order of the Passover Haggadah in the Holy Tongue, with several illustrations depicting all the signs and wonders done to our forefathers in Egypt… inscribed on clean parchment, and finely inscribed lettering, and other beautiful things. Completed by Abraham Sofer Stam of Ihringen in the Margraviate near the fortress of Old Breisach close to the River Rhine".

The medallion at the top of the title page seems to give the Hebrew year 5530 (1770).

On p. 1b is a poem in Yiddish rhyme. At the top of this page, enclosed within a round medallion, is a brief text, also in Yiddish rhyme, a self-advertisement on the part of the scribe, appealing to all those interested in acquiring a similar Haggadah to "run" to Abraham the Scribe and commission it at a bargain price.

The name of the person who commissioned the present Haggadah appears on p. 2a: "This Haggadah belongs to… the well-known community leader R. Zalman Wiesel of Karlsruhe, [1740]" – according to this inscription the manuscript was created in 1740, and not in 1770 as appears on the title page. Possibly, the date on the title page was also intended to be 1740, and the added Hebrew letter "lamed" (= 30) was meant to be a shortened form of the common abbreviation "lamed-pey-kuf".

Illustrations and artwork:

The text of the Haggadah appears at the center of each page, enclosed in a frame surrounded on all sides by colorful decorations – mostly alternating vegetal patterns. In addition, the illustrated figures of the biblical heroes Moses, Aaron, King David, and King Solomon are recurrent motifs on many of the Haggadah's pages. On some of the pages, figures in period costume also appear. Some of the frames are adorned with an architectonic arch or gable, typically surmounted by a pair of rampant lions flanking a round medallion bearing the words "Passover Haggadah".

Also included among the images framing the text are more than 50 illustrations depicting preparations for the Passover holiday and scenes representing the Haggadah's narrative. In addition to these, the text is accompanied by a dozen title-illustrations marking the stages or segments of the Passover seder, ten illustrations portraying the Ten Plagues, six additional title-illustrations representing the stages of the seder (before the Grace After Meals), and 25 illuminated initials.

The illustrations in this Haggadah are modeled after woodcuts used in the "Venice Haggadah", printed by Giovanni (Zuan) di Gara in 1609. The texts in rhyme that appear in the margins of some of the pages were also apparently borrowed from the Venice Haggadah. Abraham of Ihringen's Haggadah thus differs from most similar manuscripts dating from the 18th century, insofar as the latter were typically based on the "Amsterdam Haggadah", originally printed in Amsterdam in 1695 (see, for instance, the following item).

Three other Haggadot scribed and illustrated by Abraham of Ihringen are known to be extant: One, dated 1732, is part of the collection of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem (Ms. 181/48); a second, dated 1756, belongs to the Jewish Museum, London (no. 639A); and an undated third Haggadah is found in the collection of Harvard University, Cambridge Mass. (Ms. Heb. 69). One additional Haggadah, dated 1731 and created in a style reminiscent of the work of Abraham of Ihringen, was donated in 2020 to Le Musée d'Art et d'Histoire du Judaïsme (mahJ, Paris, item D.2020.02.001). For additional information, see: Haviva Peled-Carmeli, Illustrated Haggadot of the Eighteenth Century, Jerusalem: The Israel Museum, 1983, Haggadah no. 1, pl. 1, 104.

Reference: Ernest Naményi, "La miniature juive au XVIIe et au XVIIIe siècle", Revue des études juives, 1957, no. 116, pp. 27-72, mentioned on pp. 68-69, illustrated in pl. 14.

Exhibitions:

1. "Synagoga, Kultgeräte und Kunstwerke von der Zeit der Patriarchen bis zur Gegenwart", Recklinghausen Städtische Kunsthalle, 1960-61, item B40.

2. "Gleiche Rechte für alle?, zweihundert Jahre jüdische Religionsgemeinschaft in Baden, 1809-2009", Ostfildern, 2009, no. 6.