Select manuscript from this collection: B26  B243 Vol. 2 B243 Vol. 4  S102  25/107

Country of Location:
Country of Location
Switzerland
Location:
Location
Zürich
Library / Collection:
Library / Collection
Braginsky Collection
Shelfmark:
Shelfmark
B243 Vol. 3
Manuscript Title:
Manuscript Title
Hebrew Bible
Caption:
Caption
Parchment · 184 ff. · 32.2 x 26.3 · Ocaña (Spain), copied and vocalized by Isaac ben Ishai Sason · 1491
Language:
Language
Hebrew
Manuscript Summary:
Manuscript Summary
At the end of the last volume (Vol. 4) of this Hebrew Bible with Masoretic comments (textual criticism) is the older colophon, which states that Isaac ben Ishai Sason completed it in 1491 in Ocaña, (Spain). At the end of the original first volume, now the second volume (Vol. 2), another colophon states that this part was completed in 1494 in Evora in the Kingdom of Portugal, two years after the expulsion of the Jews from Spanish Castile. Originally this Bible was divided into two parts, presenting an unusual, non-canonical order of the books. In the 19th century, it was divided into four volumes (Vol. 1, Vol. 2, Vol. 3, Vol. 4), received a new binding and was decorated with a purple leather cover and gold embossing. In the 18th century, this Bible was housed in the Convent of the Discalced Carmelites of S. Paolo in Florence; after the convent was sacked by Napoleonic forces, the manuscript was probably in the Vatican Library, but in 1827 already it was sold in England. Before coming to the Braginsky Collection in Zurich, it was part of the collection of Beriah Botfield. (red)
DOI (Digital Object Identifier):
DOI (Digital Object Identifier
10.5076/e-codices-bc-b-0243-3 (http://dx.doi.org/10.5076/e-codices-bc-b-0243-3)
Permanent link:
Permanent link
http://e-codices.ch/en/list/one/bc/b-0243-3
IIIF Manifest URL:
IIIF Manifest URL
IIIF Drag-n-drop http://e-codices.ch/metadata/iiif/bc-b-0243-3/manifest.json
How to quote:
How to quote
Zürich, Braginsky Collection, B243 Vol. 3: Hebrew Bible (http://e-codices.ch/en/list/one/bc/b-0243-3).
Online Since:
Online Since
12/17/2015
External resources:
External resources
Rights:
Rights
Images:
(Concerning all other rights see each manuscript description and our Terms of use)
Document Type:
Document Type
Manuscript
Century:
Century
15th century
Dated:
Dated
1491
Liturgica christiana:
Liturgica christiana
Bible
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e-codices · 05/21/2015, 14:55:05

In the eighteenth century, this Hebrew Bible with Masorah Magna and Parva was housed in the library of the Convent of the Discalced Carmelites of S. Paolo in Florence. After that library was sacked by Napoleonic forces, the manuscript may have been in the Vatican Library for a short while; the only source for this information is an English auction catalogue of 1827 in which the manuscript appeared. It remained in England until it was acquired from the library of the bibliophile Beriah Botfield for the Braginsky Collection.
Although the manuscript was bound into four volumes in England during the nineteenth century, the original consisted of two parts, each with its own colophon. The first part comprised the Pentateuch and the Hagiographa, while the second contained all the books of the Prophets. At the end of the original second volume, now the fourth volume (page 73), the scribe and vocalizer Isaac ben Ishai Sason stated that he finished copying the manuscript in 1491 in Ocaña, in Castile. At the end of the original first volume, now the second volume, he wrote a colophon with another year of completion, 1494 (page 71).
This appears within a detailed interlaced frame with pen flourishes along the outer and part of the inner borders. He finished this part, however, in Evora, in the Kingdom of Portugal. With his fellow Jews Isaac had been expelled from Spain in 1492 and forced to flee to Portugal, where he copied the Pentateuch and Hagiographa. In the latter colophon the scribe even indicated that it had been two years since the expulsion from Castile. Whether he did indeed copy the manuscript in this unusual order, first Prophets, then Pentateuch and Hagiographa, or whether an original first part got lost as a result of the expulsion, necessitating its replacement, cannot be known.
According to tradition, the text of the Song of Moses, (Ha'azinu) Deuteronomy 32:1–43 (page 74), is ar- ranged as two columns composed of bricks placed one above the other. The vertical arrangement of the Masorah Magna on either side of the single column of text of the end of the chapter that precedes the song, displays Isaac ben Ishai Sason’s keen artistic sensibility.

From: A Journey through Jewish Worlds. Highlights from the Braginsky collection of Hebrew manuscripts and printed books, hrsg. E. M. Cohen, S. L. Mintz, E. G. L. Schrijver, Amsterdam, 2009, p. 70.

e-codices · 05/21/2015, 14:54:46

Im 18. Jahrhundert befand sich diese hebräische Bibel mit masoretischen (textkritischen) Anmerkungen in der Bibliothek des Klosters S. Paolo dei Carmelitani Scalzi in Florenz. Nach der Plünderung des Klosters durch napoleonische Truppen dürfte die Handschrift in die Vatikanische Bibliothek gelangt sein, wie aus einem Eintrag in einem englischen Auktionskatalog von 1827 hervorgeht. Sie blieb in England, bis sie aus der Sammlung des Bibliophilen Beriah Botfield für die Braginsky Collection erworben wurde.
Die ursprünglich zweibändige Handschrift wurde im 19. Jahrhundert neu in vier Bänden gebunden. Der erste Teil umfasste zuvor den Pentateuch und die Hagiografen (die «poetischen» und «historischen» Schriften sowie die fünf Rollen), der zweite Teil enthielt die prophetischen Schriften. Am Schluss des zweiten und heute vierten Bandes notierte der Schreiber Isaak ben Ischai Sason, der auch die Vokalisierungen vorgenommen hatte, er habe das Manuskript im Jahr 1491 in der kastilischen Stadt Ocaña beendet. Am Schluss des ursprünglich ersten und heute zweiten Bandes befindet sich ein weiteres Kolophon, das von einem Schmuckrahmen mit verschlungenen Bandornamenten umschlossen ist. Dieses gibt an, die Handschrift sei 1494 in Evora im Königreich Portugal fertiggestellt worden, zwei Jahre nach der Vertreibung der Juden aus dem spanischen Kastilien. Es mag irritieren, dass Isaak ben Ischai Sason die beiden Teile nicht in der kanonischen Abfolge der biblischen Bücher geschrieben haben soll. Möglicherweise ging der Pentateuch-Teil bei der Vertreibung verloren und musste deshalb ein zweites Mal abgeschrieben werden.
Der kalligrafischen Tradition entsprechend, sind die Wörter des Liedes des Mose (Deuteronomium 32:1–43) in zwei Kolumnen wie übereinandergeschichtete Ziegelsteine arrangiert. Die vertikale Anordnung der Masora magna zu beiden Seiten der Schlusspartie des vorangehenden Textes zeugt von der einfühlsamen Fertigkeit dieses jüdischen Schriftkünstlers.

Aus: Schöne Seiten. Jüdische Schriftkultur aus der Braginsky Collection, Hrsg. von Emile Schrijver und Falk Wiesemann, Zürich 2011, S. 238.

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A Journey through Jewish Worlds. Highlights from the Braginsky collection of Hebrew manuscripts and printed books, hrsg. E. M. Cohen, S. L. Mintz, E. G. L. Schrijver, Amsterdam, 2009, p. 70-75.

Schöne Seiten. Jüdische Schriftkultur aus der Braginsky Collection, Hrsg. von Emile Schrijver und Falk Wiesemann, Zürich 2011, S. 238-241.

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