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Amsterdam Haggadah of 1695

Amsterdam Haggadah of 1695

Amsterdam (Netherlands) — 1695

The oldest surviving Haggadah with copperplate engraving and one of the first printed Hebrew maps of the Holy Land: Abraham ben Jacob's masterful picture cycle, which would shape Haggadah art for decades to come

  1. Abraham ben Jacob (c. 1669–1730) was a German-born Jewish convert who worked as an engraver in Amsterdam

  2. His picture cycle designed for the Amsterdam Haggadah was to influence the printed Haggadah editions of the following decades

  3. He also created what is probably the second oldest Hebrew map of the Holy Land, which forms part of the manuscript as a double page

Amsterdam Haggadah of 1695

The Amsterdam Haggadah of 1695
The Amsterdam Haggadah of 1695 Copyright Photos: Ziereis Facsimiles
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Description
Amsterdam Haggadah of 1695

As one of the first Haggadot illuminated with copperplate engravings, the Amsterdam Haggadah of 1695 had a formative influence on various later printed Haggadot and their picture cycles. The 1695 edition was published by the Amsterdam printing house of Moshe ben Yoseph Wesel, where Asher Anschel ben Eliezer Hazan and Issachar Baer ben Avraham Eliezer were responsible for the masterful printing. The influential picture cycle was created by the converted Jewish copperplate engraver Abraham ben Jacob (ca. 1669–1730). As an artist who was probably socialized as a Christian, he drew inspiration not from the woodcuts of earlier printed Haggadot, but from the works of Hans Holbein the Younger and Matthäus Merian the Elder, who created important picture cycles for Christian Bibles. Abraham ben Jacob adapted the images for the Amsterdam Haggadah to suit a Jewish audience and added a densely illustrated frontispiece. In addition, he designed one of the first Hebrew maps of the Holy Land, preceded only by Abraham Goos' map of the religiously significant region. It is bound into the manuscript as a double page and illustrates the route of the Exodus.

Codicology

Alternative Titles
Seder Haggadah Shel Pasah
Amsterdam Haggadah with Map
Amsterdam Haggadah von 1695
Wesel Haggadah
Size / Format
52 pages / Codex: 31.5 × 20.5 cm Map: 19.0 × 10.5 cm
Date
1695
Language
Hebrew
Illustrations
1 frontispiece, 2 woodcuts, 20 half-page copperplate engravings, 1 double-page map of the Holy Land
Content
Texts for the Sedar ritual and a map of the Holy Land
Patron
Moshe ben Yoseph Wesel
Artist / School
Previous Owners
Dr. Mordechai Hirsch
Dr. Wolf Hirsch
Loser Wolf Schwabacher
Available facsimile editions:
The Amsterdam Haggadah of 1695
#1 The Amsterdam Haggadah of 1695
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