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Detailed record for Harley 5709
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| Author |
Solomon ben Isaac (Rashi) |
| Title |
Pentateuch with Targum Onkelos and Rashi’s commentary (ff. 1-240v), Haftarot with Rashi’s commentary (ff. 241-295v), Five Scrolls (Hamesh megillot) with Rashi’s commentary (ff. 295v-321), and a portion of the Targum on the Song of Songs (ff. 321v-323v). |
| Origin |
France |
| Date |
1st or 2nd quarter of the 14th century |
| Language |
Hebrew, Aramaic |
| Script |
Ashkenazi square and semi-cursive script, partially punctuated |
| Scribe |
Hayyim Cohen ?, scribe of ff. 1-307; anonym scribe, ff. 308-323. |
| Decoration |
22 marginal drawings in ink (ff. 31v, 38v, 44, 51v, 57v, 58v, 72, 83v, 84v, 108, 119v, 131v, 137v, 146v, 147, 206v, 232v, 236, 236v, 241). Numerous modest decoration inside or around the marginal text in brown ink, some of them are unfinished. Numerous carmina figurata |
| Dimensions in mm |
310 x 250 (195/175 x 95/165, with commentary: 215 x 180/190) |
| Official foliation |
ff. 323 (+ 1 unfoliated modern flyleaf and 1 unfoliated older paper flyleaf with watermark at the beginning, 1 unfoliated older paper flyleaf and 2 modern unfoliated paper flyleaves with watermark at the end) |
| Collation |
50 quires: i8 (ff. 1-8), ii8 (ff. 9-16), iii8 (ff. 17-24), iv8 (ff. 25-32), v8 (ff. 33-40), vi8 (ff. 41-48), vii12 (ff. 49-60), viii8 (ff. 61-68), ix8 (ff. 69-76), x8 (ff. 77-84), xi8 (ff. 85-92), xii8 (ff. 93-100), xiii8 (ff. 101-108), xiv8 (ff. 109-116), xv8 (ff. 117-124), xvi8 (ff. 125-132), xvii8 (ff. 133-140), xviii8 (ff. 141-148), xix8 (ff. 149-156), xx8 (ff. 157-164), xxi2 (ff. 165-172), xxii10 (ff. 173-182), xxiii8 (ff. 183-190), xxxiv8 (ff. 191-198), xxxv8 (ff. 199-206), xxxvi12 (ff. 207-218), xxxvii8 (ff. 219-226), xxxviii8 (ff. 227-234), xxxix8 (ff. 235-242), xl8 (ff. 243-250), xli8 (ff. 251-258), xlii8 (ff. 259-266), xliii8 (ff. 267-274), xliv6 (ff. 275-280), xlv8 (ff. 281-288), xlvi4 (ff. 289-292), xlvii10 (ff. 293-302), xlviii5 (ff. 303-307), xlix8 (ff. 308-315), l8 (ff. 316-323). |
| Form |
Parchment codex |
| Binding |
Post-1600. Black leather with the Harley coat of arms in the centre. |
| Provenance |
Hayyim Cohen, scribe of ff. 1-307?: the word cohen is marked many times, e.g., ff. 95, 104, 116v, 128v, 262; the word hayyim is decorated on f. 204.
Probably censored by Hippolite of Ferrara, Franciscan censor: inscribed 'Fra Hipp. Ferr' (active at the end of the 16th century-beginning of 17th century, in Cremona?) (f. 323v), see William Popper, The Censorship of Hebrew Books (New York: KTAV Publishing House, 1969), appendix § 18-19, 93.
Nathaniel Noel (fl. 1681, d. c. 1753), bookseller, employed by Edward Harley for buying books and manuscripts chiefly on the Continent, where his agent was George Suttie (see Wright 1972): sold to Edward Harley on 18 January 1723/4;
date inscribed: 18 die January, 1723/4 (f. [ii]).
The Harley Collection, formed by Robert Harley (b. 1661, d. 1724), 1st earl of Oxford and Mortimer, politician, and Edward Harley (b. 1689, d. 1741), 2nd earl of Oxford and Mortimer, book collector and patron of the arts.
Edward Harley bequeathed the library to his widow, Henrietta, née Cavendish Holles (b. 1694, d. 1755) during her lifetime and thereafter to their daughter, Margaret Cavendish Bentinck (b. 1715, d. 1785), duchess of Portland; the manuscripts were sold by the Countess and the Duchess in 1753 to the nation for £10,000 (a fraction of their contemporary value) under the Act of Parliament that also established the British Museum; the Harley manuscripts form one of the foundation collections of the British Library. |
| Notes |
Pricking and ruling are visible. Watermark, f. [iii], of a fleur de lis, similar to C. M. Briquet, Les Filigranes: Dictionnaire historique des marques du papier dès leur apparition vers 1282 jusqu'en 1600, A Facsimile of the 1907 edition with supplementary material, ed. by Allan Stevenson, 4 vols (Amsterdam: The Paper Publications Society, 1968), no. 7126 (dated 1582, Vicenza). Watermark, f. [324], of a horn included into a crowned shield and with the letters LVG, similar to Edward Heawood, Watermarks (Monumenta Chartae Papyraceae Historiam Illustrantia, I) (Hilversum: Paper Publication Society, 1950), no. 2745 (dated 1755, London). |
| Select bibliography |
A Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts in the British Museum, 4 vols (London: Eyre and Strahan, 1808-12), III (1808), no. 5709.
George Margoliouth, Catalogue of the Hebrew and Samaritan Manuscripts in the British Museum, 4 vols (London: British Museum, 1899-1935; vols I-III repr. 1965); IV, Introduction, Indexes, ed. by Jacob Leveen (London: British Museum, 1977), I, no. 170.
Cyril Ernest Wright, Fontes Harleiani: A Study of the Sources of the Harleian Collection of Manuscripts in the British Museum (London: British Museum, 1972), pp. 246, 459.
Bezalel Narkiss, 'The Seal of Solomon the Scribe: The Illustrations of the Albenc Pentateuch of 1340', in Between Judaism and Christianity: art historical essays in honor of Elisheva (Elisabeth) Revel-Neher, ed. by Katrin Kogman-Appel and Mati Meyer (Leiden: Brill, 2009), pp. 319-51 (p. 331). |
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f. 58v
Bird |
f. 59
Bird |
f. 83v
Hybrid |
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f. 84v
Lion |
ff. 146v-147
Lion |
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