Mahzor le-Kol ha-Shanah ke-Minhag Ashkenaz; Sefer Tehilim (Ashkenazi Prayer Book for the Entire Year; Book of Psalms), Aryeh Judah Leib Sofer ben Elhanan Katz of Treibitsch, Vienna: 1716

198 leaves ( 13 ¼ x 9 ¼ in.; 340 x 235 mm). Written in black ink on parchment in square Ashkenazi Hebrew script with Nikud; a few instances of brown or gold ink; some instructions in semi-cursive Ashkenazi Hebrew script; early foliation in ink. Decorated title page f.1r, partially hand-colored and gilded; a second, engraved, hand-colored and gilded title page f.148r. Illuminated, illustrated and decorated initial word panels, head- and tail-pieces, in ink and gouache; nearly every page framed in gilded ink, many headings in gilt and gouache cartouches; a few gilt frames oxidized to a viridescent patina. Very lightly stained, some soiling ff. 77v-78r, 98r-99v; early tape repair to fore-edge 174v; owners’ notes obscured from fly-leaf & first title page. Contemporary marbled endpapers. Contemporary blind- and gilt-tooled black morocco over wooden boards, gilt floral border with cornerpieces, similar ornament in blind, central gilt ornament; gilt spine in seven compartments, rebacked with original spine laid down; traces remain of gilt and gauffered edges; brass and leather clasps; five small bosses, a sixth lacking. Worn and scuffed.

Emile G. L. Schrijver, "Some Superb Examples of 18th Century Penmanship: The Manuscripts of Aryeh Judah Leib of Trebitsch," in eds. Ulf Haxen et al., Jewish Studies in a New Europe: Proceedings of the 5th Congress…of the European Asssociation for Jewish Studies,Copenhagen: 1998, pp. 732-744.; Schrijver, "The Hebraic Book", in ed., Simon Eliot and Jonathan Rose, A Companion to the History of the Book, 2007, pp.153-164; Evelyn Cohen, Sharon Liberman Mintz, Emile G.L. Schrijver, eds.,  A Journey through Jewish Worlds: Highlights from the Braginsky Collection of Hebrew Manuscripts and Printed Books, Amsterdam: 2009, pp. 104-5; Schrijver, "The Eye of the Beholder," unpublished English translation of Inaugural Lecture Delivered in Dutch on 27 March 2014 (available online; printed booklet may be obtained from author); Ernest Namenyi, "La miniature juive au XVII et XVIII siècle" in Revue des Études Juives, 1958, p.60-61.

MAGNIFICENT MANUSCRIPT BY THE SCRIBE-ARTIST WHOSE WORK LAUNCHED AN ARTISTIC RENAISSANCE

The early decades of the 18^thcentury witnessed the first stages of a remarkable resurgence in the production of elaborately decorated Hebrew manuscripts when wealthy Court Jews in Germany and Central Europe began to commission exquisitely decorated handwritten Hebrew books as luxury items. The creators of these volumes combined innate artistic talent with scribal dexterity in order to develop this entirely new genre. The first of these renowned scribe/artists was Aryeh Judah Leib Sofer ben Elhanan Katz of Treibitsch, whose innovative first creation, a comprehensive prayer book containing the entire liturgy for daily, Sabbath, and Festival prayers, and the book of Psalms, was written, illuminated, illustrated and decorated in Vienna during the years 1712-1714. 

The present manuscript created in 1716, also a prayer book for the entire year accompanied by the Book of Psalms, was the second work produced by him. It retains the elements that characterized Aryeh Judah Leib Sofer’s ground-breaking style: the large format prayer book, the meticulous calligraphy in conscious imitation of the “ottiyot of Amsterdam” (the clear and eminently readable typeface that in its own way revolutionized the history of the Hebrew book), and the incorporation of decorative techniques developed from an amalgamation of earlier manuscript traditions and close attention to the work of Hebrew printers of past generations. It was in this last regard that Aryeh Judah Leib most deftly exhibited his creativity, going so far as to incorporate printed and manuscript elements on the same page, in this and other manuscripts he produced. Since there would be no Hebrew printing in Vienna until much later, this meant that Aryeh Judah Leib had to acquire these elements, featuring Jewish motifs and Hebrew letters, from as far away as Sulzbach (from whence the plate used to print f.148r.)

Very little is known of the life of Aryeh Judah Leib Sofer other than what may be reconstructed by close analysis of the works he left behind. What we are able to ascertain is that he continued to create exquisite manuscripts for his wealthy patrons until 1739, mostly in Vienna, where, although Jews were in fact prohibited from residing, a handful of affluent families who served the Emperor, were allowed to live, under edicts of personal toleration. His first client was a scion of the famous Oppenheim family and subsequent sponsors of his work were from equally illustrious lineages included some of the most important Court Jews of the era. Of the 19 manuscripts known to have been produced by Aryeh Judah Leib, only 12 are known to have survived the vicissitudes of Jewish life in Europe over the past three centuries.

In the years that followed, other talented scribe/artists such as Aaron Wolf Herlingen, Meshulam Zimmel, and Joseph Leipnik helped to spread the new artform to other parts of Bohemia and Moravia. For the most part, however, they, and numerous less famous and less gifted scribe/artists who emulated their work would concentrate their efforts on miniature formats, or, as in the case of those who produced Passover haggadot, relatively short works.  

Aryeh Judah Leib Sofer ben Elhanan Katz of Treibitsch, the scribe/artist who created this outstanding prayerbook was the forerunner of an entirely new movement in Jewish book arts. He was a pioneer whose imagination and creativity emanate from the pages of the volumes he wrote and illustrated. His work inspired subsequent generations of Jewish scribe/artists to rekindle the dormant but abiding interest in marrying the sacred words of Hebrew texts to aesthetically pleasing physical forms, in order to create beautiful artifacts; an enduring legacy to be treasured by collectors and laymen alike, to the present day.

DECORATION
f.1r  A fine line drawing in ink, partially illuminated and hand-colored, though the coloring may be a later addition. Divided into three bands: the uppermost, a pair of lions rampant each supporting a crown with one paw while the other rests upon a book  a crown; at center, Moses and Aaron flank an unfilled cartouche, with pillars on either side  and cherubs’ heads atop and below;  in the lower band, Kings David and Solomon seated to either side of a pillar upon which a floral wreath encircles a scene of baby Moses in the bulrushes. The elements in the lower two bands are  directly modeled on the title page of the 1697 Talmud edition printed in Frankfurt  an der Oder.  

 f.2r  Shivitti page featuring the tetragrammaton in spare ground within four floral frames, the first and third inhabited by a hare and a songbird, respectively; two floral wreaths enframing divine names; an elaborate menorah, with text of Psalm 67 ensconced within its branches; flanked at bottom by lions couchant.

 f.4r  The initial word Adon in spare ground within four floral frames inhabited by a vulture, an imperial two-headed eagle, a parrot and a lion, respectively; the initial word Barukh executed in ornate ribbon letters.

 f.12v The initial word, va-Yevarekh illuminated in shell gold, each letter within a floral frame, the last two of which are inhabited, by a cockatiel, and an ape.

 f.21v  Four illuminated rings containing text and a Menorah-shaped calligram comprising Psalm 67.

 f.79r  The initial word El illuminated in shell gold, each letter within a floral frame.

 f.101r A printed element has been obliterated and covered by block letters. In the element removed, an urn is still visible on the left side

 f.111v The initial word Shir is enclosed within a rose-colored frame with sprays of green leaves. In gouache.

 f.148r  Engraved title page for Book of Psalms, illuminated in shell gold and hand colored in gouache. Flanking the manuscript title, Moses, with tablets and staff, and Aaron in vestments, with his censer; above,  a pair of angels support a cartouche, within which are David and his lyre; below two angelic busts face outward, between them a cartouche in which the binding of Isaac is depicted. Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi noted the "magnificent sculptured quality," of this engraved image, first used as the frontispiece of the 1711 Sulzbach Haggadah, calling it one of the "most imposing to be found in 18th century Hebrew books." This  concatenation of printed engraved elements within an elaborate manuscript is characteristic of the works of Aryeh Judah Leib Sofer of Trebitsch.

 f.149r The initial word Tehillim, illuminated in shell gold, each letter within a floral frame, the last of which is inhabited by a lion’s head. Below, the initial word Ashrei, within a cartouche, supported by lions rampant.

 f.163v  The initial word la-Menatzeah, within a floral frame.

 f.170r The initial word Mizmor in spare ground, each letter within a floral frame, the last of which is inhabited by a songbird.

182r The initial word Hodu illuminated in shell gold, each letter within a floral frame.

 f.185r  The initial words “T’manya Apei” within a decorative frame, incorporating a grinning face. The descriptive title in Aramaic for Psalm 119 means “eight faces,” so named because the form of the psalm is an eightfold acrostic (eight verses for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet.)

 f.194v  An elaborate nearly full-page tailpiece at the close of the Book of Psams. Eight vignettes inhabit an architectural structure. At the base, from left to right, are: the spies returning from the Land of Israel bearing an oversize cluster of grapes; Jacob’s dream; Jacob and the angel across the Jabbok river. Flanking the central arch, Moses, with staff and tablets, and Aaron in priestly vestments, each between marble columns, in compartments backed by bricks. Above them, King David with his lyre and King Solomon, both with scepters, flank a roundel in which the Binding of Isaac.

 Nearly every page is framed in shell gold. A great many pages with running titles enclosed within gilt or gilt and gouache cartouches.