16 Betzalel St. Jerusalem, Israel
Auction No 1.
Rare Books and Manuscripts, Silver objects and Art
The auction has ended
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LOT 36:
Miniature Prayer Book. Magnificent copy in its original case.
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Sold for: $1,300 (₪4,277)
₪4,277
Start price:
$
900
Estimated price :
$1,500 - $2,000
Buyer's Premium: 23%
More details
VAT: 18%
On commission only
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Miniature Prayer Book. Magnificent copy in its original case.
A Beautiful Copy. 2.3 Inches.
Prayers for throughout the year and the Holidays according to the Sephardic custom.
Amsterdam 1739. Printed by Naftali Hirtz Levi Rofeh.
218 Pages. Size 5.9cm
Computerized Jewish Book Otzar: Item no. 97915.
Fantastic copy. Original leather binding. Gilt margin cuttings. Comes with its original case.
This is the smallest miniature Prayer Book to be printed up till the end of the 18th century.
We know of a number of miniature books that were printed in the 15th century, such as a Prayer Book printed in Italy whose photo appears by Freiman, page 225-6. Similarly, there is the Prayer Book from Brisha, printed in 1495, see page 236, and Hilchot Shechita, 1489, Lisbon page 285. None, however, are only 5.9cm tall.
It is amazing to see the delicateness of print to complete this almost impossible feat. The printer had to arrange most miniscule letters on a large board.
Other previous miniature books included larger letters (see Freiman as above).
We don’t find anything printed similar to this copy until the miniature Tanach, known as the ‘Shaltz Patent’ was printed in Warsaw circa 1880. This too, was an incredible work.
This Prayer Book includes typographical changes on the two inner cover pages, following page 219, and on the cover page after page 222.
