Amsterdam Haggadah of 1712

The Amsterdam Haggadah of 1712 is the second edition of the famous Amsterdam Haggadah of 1695, which had a formative influence on various later printed Haggadot and their picture cycles. The 1712 edition was published by Solomon Proops' printing house in Amsterdam. It basically contained the same copperplate illuminations as the first edition, which were created by the engraver Abraham ben Jacob (ca. 1669–1730). As a Christian-socialized, converted Jew, he was primarily inspired by the works of Hans Holbein the Younger and Matthäus Merian the Elder, who created important picture cycles for Christian Bibles. Although he adapted the images to a Jewish audience, it seems that some iconography typical of Haggadot was missing: the Ten Plagues and depictions of the rituals surrounding the Seder. These were added as series of copperplate engravings in the second edition, which also received a new frontispiece. Retained in this edition was Abraham ben Jacob's double-page map of the Holy Land, which is not only the second-oldest Hebrew map of this region, but also illustrates the exodus of the Israeli people from Egypt.