Select manuscript from this collection: B26  B314 B316  S102  42/107

Country of Location:
Country of Location
Switzerland
Location:
Location
Zürich
Library / Collection:
Library / Collection
Braginsky Collection
Shelfmark:
Shelfmark
B315
Manuscript Title:
Manuscript Title
Passover Haggadah, with ritual instructions in French (Bouton Haggadah)
Caption:
Caption
Parchment · 33 ff. · 33.5 x 23.5 cm · [France, copied and decorated by Victor Bouton] · [second half of the 19th century (around 1870?)]
Language:
Language
Hebrew
Manuscript Summary:
Manuscript Summary
Magnificent manuscript with the text of the Haggadah; each page is decorated with rich borders of floral elements and with pen drawings in gold and lapis lazuli surrounding the text. Stylistically the decoration closely emulates Persian miniatures, especially works from the school of Shiraz of the period between 1560 and 1580. The execution of this work is attributed to Victor Bouton, born 1819 in Lorraine and active in Paris as illustrator, heraldic painter and engraver. This attribution is based on another, also sumptuously decorated manuscript signed by the artist, which Edmond James de Rothschild had commissioned as a gift for his mother and which contains a biographical note that this artist had received the enormous sum of 32,000 gold francs from a wealthy Jew for a Haggadah. The only illustration (f. 1v) depicts the celebration on the first evening of Passover; a group of five men and two women in oriental dress sit a the Seder table while the master of the house is reciting the benediction over the wine. (red)
DOI (Digital Object Identifier):
DOI (Digital Object Identifier
10.5076/e-codices-bc-b-0315 (http://dx.doi.org/10.5076/e-codices-bc-b-0315)
Permanent link:
Permanent link
http://e-codices.unifr.ch/en/list/one/bc/b-0315
IIIF Manifest URL:
IIIF Manifest URL
IIIF Drag-n-drop http://e-codices.unifr.ch/metadata/iiif/bc-b-0315/manifest.json
How to quote:
How to quote
Zürich, Braginsky Collection, B315: Passover Haggadah, with ritual instructions in French (Bouton Haggadah) (http://e-codices.unifr.ch/en/list/one/bc/b-0315).
Online Since:
Online Since
03/19/2015
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
19th century
Decoration:
Decoration
Figurative, Fully Painted, Gold / Silver, Margin, Ornamental, Text Block
Liturgica hebraica:
Liturgica hebraica
Haggadah
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e-codices · 03/20/2015, 16:22:34

Hijman (Hayyim ben Mordecai) Binger (1756–1830) is best known for a decorated daily prayer book, now in the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana (Hs. Ros. 681) in Amsterdam, which he executed in cooperation with his sons, Marcus and Anthonie, in 1820. He also copied numerous single-leaf manuscripts of contemporary poetry, mostly for family occasions, which are now housed in various collections worldwide. Binger began his career as a bookkeeper, but later worked primarily in a clothing rental business; he also may have been active in international trading. In 1827 he inherited a lending library from his brother, Meijer Binger, to which he devoted most of his time.
Both the above-mentioned prayer book and the Hijman Binger Haggadah typify Hebrew manuscript decoration in Central and Northern Europe at the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth centuries. The previous flowering of Hebrew manuscript ornamentation and illustration started to decline around the middle of the eighteenth century. With few exceptions, notably a number of late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth century examples from Hungary (such as cat. no. 54), the Bouton Haggadah (cat. no. 56) and the Charlotte von Rothschild Haggadah (cat. no. 55), most later works randomly copied iconographic and stylistic elements from the vast tradition of the preceding centuries. As a result, the later manuscripts lack the internal consistency and relative unity of style of the earlier examples.
In light of similarities between the illustrations in the Hijman Binger Haggadah and those in some of the later Haggadot executed by Joseph ben David of Leipnik, for example, the Rosenthaliana Leipnik Haggadah of 1738 and a Leipnik Haggadah from 1739 (cat. no. 45), it is likely that a Haggadah by this artist served as Binger’s primary model. The inclusion of a Hebrew map of the Holy Land, printed in the Amsterdam Haggadah of 1695, though not unique to eighteenth-century manuscripts, may well be considered a rarity.

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. 142.

e-codices · 11/27/2014, 14:26:49

This is one of the most unusual Hebrew manuscripts of the post-medieval period. Every page is illuminated with geometrical designs executed in lapis lazuli and gold; subtle, multicolored floral elements with separate designs surround individual lines
of text, while delicate blue pen-work extends into the outer margins. Tiny sprinkles of gold embellish the pages. The manuscript emulates closely works from a school of Arabic manuscript illumination of Shiraz, Persia, of the period between 1560 and 1580. The designs also appear in later Arabic manuscripts, especially from Turkey and Afghanistan.
The sole illustration depicts a seder scene in which five men and two women, most of whom are dressed in orientalized clothing, sit at a table. The central male figure is reciting the benediction over wine. It is striking that the table is devoid of anything related specifically to Passover, including the ceremonial foods eaten at the seder.
The Haggadah was decorated by Victor Bouton, who is best known as a heraldic painter. Born in Épinal in the Vosges region in northeast France in 1819 and active in Paris most of his life, he was involved in politics, and imprisoned between 1851 and 1856. Recently Sharon Mintz was able to identify the artist based on a signed, equally sumptuous, daily prayer book, which is now in the Musée d’art et d’histoire du Judaïsme in Paris. It was commissioned by Edmond James de Rothschild (1845–1934) for his mother Betty (1805–86). Notably, Bouton signed his name in Hebrew there, followed by the Hebrew words Sofer mahir
(skilled scribe), a common designation of professional Jewish scribes. Bouton, therefore, may also be identified as the scribe of both masterpieces. P. Heili reports that Bouton received the enormous sum of 32,000 gold francs for a Haggadah he executed for a wealthy Israelite. It is likely that Heili was referring to the Braginsky manuscript, which may have been another Rothschild commission.

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. 154.

e-codices · 11/27/2014, 14:13:22

Diese hebräische Prachthandschrift ist eine der ungewöhnlichsten aus der nachmittelalterlichen Zeit. Jede Seite ist überaus reich verziert. Lapislazuli und Gold beherrschen die Farbskala. Bunte florale Elemente sind subtil zu regelmässigen, ineinander verwobenen Mustern arrangiert und laufen zu den Rändern hin in haarfeinen Linien und Ornamenten aus. Die Textfelder sind mit winzigen Goldsprengseln bedeckt. Stil und kunsthandwerkliche Ausführung orientieren eng an Vorbildern aus der persischen Buchkunst, insbesondere an den glanzvollen Werken der Schule von Schiras aus der Zeit zwischen 1560 und 1580.
Die einzige figürliche Darstellung der Bouton Haggada zeigt die Feier am ersten Abend des Pessachfests mit fünf um den Sedertisch gruppierten Männern und zwei Frauen in orientalisierender Kleidung. Festgehalten ist der Augenblick, in dem der Hausherr den Segen über den Wein spricht. Allerdings fehlen auf dem Tisch die traditionellen symbolischen Speisen der Pessachtafel. Die Szene ist Ausdruck einer überzeugenden künstlerischen Verbindung der zeitgenössischen Strömungen des Orientalismus und Historismus. Perfektion, erlesener Geschmack und Luxus sind die eindringlichsten Signale, die von dieser Haggada ausgehen.
Das Werk ist nicht signiert. Es ist nach dem Künstler Victor Bouton benannt. Geboren 1819 im lothringischen Épinal, verbrachte er die meiste Zeit seines Lebens als Zeichner, Wappenmaler und Graveur in Paris. Meisterschaft erlangte er auch als Kopist historischer Manuskripte, etwa des mittelalterlichen illuminierten Falkenbuchs des Königs Dancus in der Bibliothèque nationale de France. Im Musée d’art et d’histoire du Judaïsme in Paris befindet sich ein von Bouton kopiertes und signiertes, ebenfalls kostbar ausgestattetes hebräisches Buch mit den täglichen Gebeten, dasEdmund James de Rothschild (1845-1934) als Geschenk für seine Mutter Betty (1805–1886) in Auftrag gegeben hatte. Darin ergänzte Bouton seinen Namen mit den Worten sofer mahir («kunstfertiger Schreiber»), der üblichen Bezeichnung professioneller Kopisten. Eine biografische Notiz zu Bouton erwähnt, er habe für einen reichen Juden eine Haggada angefertigt und dafür die enorme Summe von 32'000 Francs in Gold erhalten. Dabei wird es sich vermutlich um eine weitere Auftragsarbeit für die Rothschilds gehandelt haben und mit grosser Wahrscheinlichkeit um die Bouton Haggada der Braginsky Collection.

Aus: Schöne Seiten. Jüdische Schriftkultur aus der Braginsky Collection, Hrsg. von Emile Schrijver und Falk Wiesemann, Zürich 2011, S. 86.

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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. 154-157.

Schöne Seiten. Jüdische Schriftkultur aus der Braginsky Collection, Hrsg. von Emile Schrijver und Falk Wiesemann, Zürich 2011, S. 86-89.

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