Amsterdam Haggadah with the Rare Map of the Holy Land, Amsterdam: Solomon Proops, 1712

32 leaves + folding map (14 x 8 ½ in.; 356 x 215 mm). COLLATION: ( )¹, 1-7⁴, 8², 9¹ =32 leaves+ map. Engraved title, letterpress title, 15 half-page engraved illustrations, folding engraved map, some historiated woodcut initials; title page and f.18 mounted; lightly soiled and stained; a few minor tears, expertly repaired, a few leaves strengthened at gutter, map at fold. Marbled endpapers. Contemporary gilt tooled calf laid down on later pasteboard; rebacked. Housed in a modern slipcase.

Yudlov 120; Ya'ari 73; Yerushalmi, plates 66-69.

SECOND EDITION OF THE ENORMOUSLY INFLUENTIAL AMSTERDAM HAGGADAH

This rare Amsterdam Haggadah is a milestone in the history of Hebrew printing and illustration. Of all the early printed illustrated Passover haggadot, the Amsterdam Haggadah of 1695 had the greatest impact on subsequent editions. The artist, Abraham ben Jacob—a convert to Judaism—borrowed most of the illustrations from a bible produced by Mathaeus Merian between 1625 and 1630. Nevertheless, Abraham ben Jacob introduced a whole new iconographic approach to haggadah illustration. Among his innovations was the image of the Temple in Jerusalem as well as a map of Canaan depicting the route of the Exodus and the boundaries of the Land of Israel. These images, as well as his famous grouping of the "Four Sons," continue to appear in countless haggadot down to the present day.

The illustrations of the present 1712 Amsterdam Haggadah were nearly identical with those of 1695, however the frontispiece was changed and two new illustrations were added: a page with 13 vignettes depicting the sequence of the Passover Seder, and a page with the images of the Ten Plagues. These were borrowed from the Venice Haggadah of 1609. The name of Abraham ben Jacob does not appear on the title page of the 1712 edition although it would have been possible for him to have executed the new frontispiece since he was still alive when the 1712 edition was published.