The Golden Haggadah [Paperback]

Bezalel Narkiss (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1997

Written and illustrated in northern Spain around 1320, the Golden Haggadah is one of the outstanding works in The British Library's world-renowned collection of Hebrew manuscripts. Traditionally the most richly decorated of all Jewish prayer books, the Haggadah is used by Jews around the world in the celebration of Passover.

This book presents a superbly illustrated account of the Golden Haggadah's creation and history and reproduces all the major illustrations in color. It provides an accessible introduction to Hebrew manuscript art as well as an authoritative commentary on the Golden Haggadah's content and illustrative scheme.

Product Details

• Paperback: 71 pages
• Publisher: Pomegranate (March 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0876544812
• ISBN-13: 978-0876544815
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 8.4 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,267,281 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #78 in Books > Arts & Photography > Other Media > Illuminations

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spanish Haggadah around 1320, August 20, 2000

By 

M. J. Smith (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Golden Haggadah (Paperback)

The bulk of this book contains color plates of Biblical scenes taking up full pages in the Haggadah - the stories of Genesis and Exodus depicted in marvelous illuminations some of which have a very icon-like quality.

There are intrepetive chapters on the artists and their models for the Biblical minatures including material on the Jewish interpretation of the Christian illuminations' symbols. The final chapter discusses the Shepardi community and the patrons who could fund such an effort as the Golden Haggadah.

For those interested for ritual purposes as well, see The Illuminated Haggadah - the ritual text with illuminations from the British Library including several also in this book.

For anyone interested in religious art or Medieval illuminations, this book is a must have as it explores an aspect of illuminated manuscripts unknown to many of us Gentiles.

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful illustrations, December 28, 2011

By 

Daniel Stuhlman "Safran" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Golden Haggadah (The British Library manuscripts in colour series) (Paperback)

This is a beautiful book about a British Museum manuscript originally written in 1390 in Barcelona. Some of the illustrations are the same size as the originals. I wrote about this haggadah in two articles in my blog Kol Safran on blogspot.

The Golden Picture Frame
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The Golden Haggadah (Formerly Golden Frame)

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