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Detail from the Roman de la Rose




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Detailed record for Oriental 2696


Author		inter al. Solomon ben Isaac
Title		Pentateuch, Five Scrolls (Hamesh megillot) and Haftarot with masorah and Rash's commentary
Origin		Germany, S. (Upper Rhine)
Date		2nd quarter of the 14th century
Language		Hebrew
Script		Ashkenazi square and semi-cursive script, punctuated
Scribe		Mordechai ben Hayyim, Emendante (i.e. corrector), punctuator and the scribe of the masorah (ff. 104, 344v); Hayyim de-Qofdana, scribe of ff. 632-633? (f. 633)
Decoration		2 diagrams of the Land of Canaan and its neighbours in ink (ff. 340, 341). Numerous initial-word panels with gold letters, decorated with foliate motifs in colours or filigree penwork, or inhabited by dragons and hybrids in colours. End of the text of Esther arranged in two medallions with two lions/dragons in ink (f. 438). 3 pen drawings around marginal notes (ff. 94, 605, 616v). Commentary in geometric forms or in medallions.
Dimensions in mm		215 x 155 (main text: 100/110 x 45/50 and 75 x 35/50; commentary: 110/190 x 20/105)
Official foliation		ff. 636 (+ 2 unfoliated paper flyleaves at the beginning and at the end)
Collation		72 quires: i¹⁰ (ff. 1-10), ii⁸ (ff. 11-18), iii⁸ (ff. 19-26), iv⁸ (ff. 27-34), v⁸ (ff. 35-42), vi⁸ (ff. 43-50), vii⁸ (ff. 51-58), viii⁸ (ff. 59-66), ix⁸ (ff. 67-74), x¹⁰ (ff. 75-84), xi⁸ (ff. 85-92), xii⁸ (ff. 93-100), xiii⁸ (ff. 101-108), xiv⁸ (ff. 109-116), xv¹² (ff. 117-128), xvi⁸ (ff. 129-136), xvii¹² (ff. 137-148), xviii⁸ (ff. 149-156), xix⁸ (ff. 157-164), xx¹² (ff. 165-176), xxi⁸ (ff. 177-184), xxii¹⁰ (ff. 185-194), xxiii⁸ (ff. 195-202), xxiv¹⁰ (ff. 203-212), xxv⁸ (ff. 213-220), xxvi⁸ (ff. 221-228), xxvii⁸ (ff. 229-236), xxviii¹² (ff. 237-248), xxix¹² (ff. 249-260), xxx¹² (ff. 261-272), xxxi⁶ (ff. 273-278), xxxii⁸ (ff. 279-286), xxxiii⁸ (ff. 287-294), xxxiv⁸ (ff. 295-302), xxxv⁸ (ff. 303-310), xxxvi⁸ (ff. 311-318), xxxvii⁸ (ff. 319-326), xxxviii⁸ (ff. 327-334), xxxix⁸ (ff. 335-342), xl¹⁰ (ff. 343-352), xli¹⁰ (ff. 353-362), xlii⁸ (ff. 363-370), xliii⁸ (ff. 371-378), xliv⁸ (ff. 379-386), xlv⁸ (ff. 387-394), xlvi⁸ (ff. 395-402), xlvii¹² (ff. 403-414), xlviii⁸ (ff. 415-422), xlix¹⁰ (ff. 423-432), l¹⁶ (ff. 433-448), li¹² (ff. 449-460), lii¹² (ff. 461-472), liii⁸ (ff. 473-480), liv¹⁴ (ff. 481-494), lv¹⁰ (ff. 495-504), lvi⁸ (ff. 505-512), lvii⁸ (ff. 513-520), lviii⁸ (ff. 521-528), lix⁴ (ff. 529-532), lx⁸ (ff. 533-540), lxi⁸ (ff. 541-548), lxii⁸ (ff. 549-556), lxiii⁸ (ff. 557-564), lxiv⁸ (ff. 565-572), lxv⁸ (ff. 573-580), lxvi⁶ (ff. 581-586), lxvii¹⁴ (587-600), lxviii¹⁴ (ff. 601-614), lxix⁶ (ff. 615-619a), lxx⁶ (ff. 620-625), lxxi⁶ (ff. 626-631), lxxii³ (ff. 632-634), lxxiii³ (ff. 635-637). Catchwords. From folio 601 onwards, due to the tight binding and the lack of catchwords, the collation cannot be established with certainty. from f. 601. It is clear however, that there were some changes over time in the sequence of the folios. The prints of the text on folio 632 can be seen on the verso side of folio 619a, thus ff. 620-631 was inserted in between later. The last folio of the codex was f. 634, ff. 635-637 are later additions.
Form		Parchment codex
Binding		BM/BL in-house.
Provenance		Mordechai Emendante (i.e. a corrector), punctuator and scribe of the masorah: inscribed with his name (ff. 104v, 344v); the name Mordechai is decorated (ff. 426v, 427, 428, 433v); the name Mordechai is decorated (ff. 426v, 427, 428, 433v). The wordhayyim is decorated (f. 111). Hayyim de-Qofdana, scribe of ff. 632-633?: inscribed with his name (ff. 111, 633). Hebrew inscriptions partially illegible (ff. 2, 2v). Hayyim of Moriali ben Jacob: sold to Solomon Yadayya (?) in 164 [1404]: purchase note (f. 634). Solomon ben Hayyim sold it to Menahem ben Jehiel on Tuesday, 4 Tishri 168 [1408]: purchase note (f. 634). Hananel Menahem Yadayya (?) ben Jehiel: sold to Jacob ben Eliezer on Wednesday 13 Tishri, 191 [1430]: purchase note (f. 634). Jacob ben Eliezer sold it to Elezar bar Samuel ha-Levi on Thursday 24 Tishri, 191 [1430]: purchase note (f. 634). Molin (?) Montneier's widow: sold through Meir ben Isaac: purchase note (15th century) (f. 634). Israel ben Meir Heilpron (Heilbronn?): sold to Joseph ben Solomon: purchase note (15th century) (f. 634). Solomon bar Joseph Kastel Virnaqo (?), Richa Loria: inscribed with their names (16th century?) (f. 3). Jacob Vital: inscribed with his name (17th century?) (f. 2). Joel Abram Luzzatto [..] di Cittadella: inscribed with his name in Italian (f. 1). Abraham Luzzatto and his wife Perla: inscribed with their names, 433 [1673] (f. 2). R. N. Rabinowitz: purchased by the British Museum from him on 8 December 1883 (f. [638v]).
Notes		Gilt edges. Blank folio after f. 619 is numbered as f. 619a. Parallel foliation on some folios from f. 3 (f. 3=f. 1).
Select bibliography		Aaron Freimann, 'Jewish Scribes in Medieval Italy', in Alexander Marx Jubilee Volume (New York: Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1950), pp. 231-342 (no. 330a). 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. 179. Gabrielle Sed-Rajna, 'Filigree Ornaments in Fourteenth-Century Hebrew Manuscripts of the Upper Rhine', Jewish Art, 12/13 (1986/1987), 45-54 (pp. 50-51). Sarit Shalev-Eyni, 'Ashkenazi Illuminated Manuscripts in the British Isles' New Letter of the Center for Jewish Art 12 (1996) http://cja.huji.ac.il/NL12-HIMBI.htm [accessed on 17 December 2010]. Sacred: Books of the Three Faiths: Judaism, Christianity, Islam (London: British Library, 2007), p. 42 [exhibition catalogue]. Ilana Tahan, Hebrew Manuscripts: The Power of Script and Image (London, British Library, 2007), pp. 70-71.

Images



f. 3 Decorated initial-word panel	f. 3 Decorated initial-word panel	f. 39 Initial-word panel

f. 39 Dragon	f. 44 Carmina figurata	f. 104v Decorated initial-word panel

f. 104v Decorated initial-word panel	f. 113v Inhabited initial-word panel	f. 113v Inhabited initial-word panel

ff. 194v-195 Catchword	f. 195 Inhabited initial-word panel	f. 195 Initial-word panel

f. 257v Inhabited initial-word panel	f. 257v Initial-word panel	f. 345 Inhabited initial-word panel

f. 411 Inhabited initial-word panel	f. 411 Inhabited initial-word panel	f. 452 Inhabited initial-word panel

f. 452 Inhabited initial-word panel	f. 488 Initial-word panel

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