Illuminated Manuscript: The North French Hebrew Miscellany
If you love calligraphy, this Gothic illuminated manuscript is a MUST see. Oh, my eyes, my heart—I adore this kind of artistry. I wish they’d have given it a better name as the current one doesn’t do it justice at all.
Introduction
The North French Hebrew Miscellany is the British Library’s finest Hebraic treasure. Completed over 720 years ago at a time of upheaval for the Jews of Europe, its contents are so varied and extensive that this volume should be considered more a library than a book. It comprises 84 different groups of texts, including hundreds of poems, reflecting the intellectual tastes of its medieval patron. These include the Pentateuch and Haftarot (readings from the Prophets), Song of Songs and several other biblical texts; the daily, Sabbath and festival prayers, including those for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur; Grace after Meals; Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers); assorted legal codes and formulae for agreements concerning marriage, divorce and business partnerships; an arithmetical riddle; laws governing Tefilin, Ritual Slaughter and an abundance of other texts including the Mezuzah; the earliest extant copy of the Hebrew version of the Book of Tobit, a wide range of medieval poetry and the earliest known copy of Isaac de Corbeil’s Sefer Mitsvot Katan, which was composed in 1277.
[…]
