[FACSIMILE WITH COMMENTARY] THE ESTHER SCROLL. DIE ESTHERROLLE. LE ROULEAU D'ESTHER. THE ESTHER SCROLL: WOLF POPPERS'S ESTHER SCROLL OF 1746, A MASTERPIECE OF JEWISH SCRIBAL ART REDISCOVERED: מגילת אסתר

[Köln] [Cologne]: Taschen, 2012. 1st edition thus. 1 Scroll (over 21 feet (6.5 meters) long!); Accompanying text in Book format is 4to, 144, 39 pages with illustrations, most in color. 23 x 34 cm. Text of commentary volume is in English, French, German and Hebrew. Added cover title and title page in Hebrew begin the Hebrew section of the volume, which consists of pages 1-40.
This set consists of a commentary volume ("The Esther Scroll: Wolf Poppers's Esther Scroll of 1746, a masterpiece of Jewish scribal art rediscovered," by Falk Wiesemann) with text in English, German, French and Hebrew, accompanied by a full-color facsimile of an 18th-century illustrated manuscript scroll produced by a Jewish artist-scribe, containing the text of the Book of Esther in German. The original scroll is housed in the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Library in Hanover, Germany.
Facsimile scroll issued in an edition of 1,746 numbered copies, of which this is nr. 31, a desirable low number. The commentary volume and facsimile scroll come in an open-sided walnut veneer display case (19 x 42 cm). The scroll is a continuous text (over 21 feet) that unwinds right to left from a leather-bound cylinder (39 cm) by means of two wooden rollers./The text of the Book of Esther in the scroll is that of Martin Luther's German translation of the Bible, copied from a 1723 edition published in Lu¨neburg (See commentary, page 32). The texts of the Book of Esther in English, German, and French in the commentary volume are reproduced from modern Christian translations of the Bible. The Hebrew text is that of the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (See commentary, page 144) Pages 81-88 of the commentary contain a fold-out, small-scale view of the manuscript scroll in its entirety. Bibliography is included on pages 142-143.
For many centuries, the creator of the "Hanover Scroll," as it is called, was unknown. Piecing together information from various sources, and performing his own stylistic analysis of this and other works of art from the period, author Falk Wiesemann recently made an enthralling discovery: the artist of the Hanover scroll was Wolf Leib Katz Poppers, a Jewish scribe and illustrator from Hildesheim.
The Esther scroll, or megilat Ester in Hebrew, is devoted solely to the story of Queen Esther and is read on the feast of Purim. An uninhibitedly joyful festival, Purim celebrates the salvation of the Jews in the Persian empire of the fifth century under the rule of King Xerxes I. The word Purim is derived from the Hebrew "pur," meaning "lot," and refers to the fact that the Persian minister Haman determined by lot the time that all Jews should be destroyed. This circumstance, related in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Esther, is publicly read out from the megillah in the synagogue at Purim.
The facsimile scroll is presented in a handcrafted walnut veneer display case. Richly illustrated with continuous text, the long scroll unfurls right to left from a leather-bound cylinder.
Leading Hebrew manuscript scholar Sharon Liberman Mintz commented, "It is unbelievable that such an unusual masterpiece now suddenly surfaces. I cannot wait to see TASCHEN's facsimile. It promises to be a wonderful contribution to the field!"
SUBJECT(S): Jewish illumination of books and manuscripts. Manuscripts, German -- Germany -- Hannover -- Facsimiles. Enluminure juive. Jewish illumination of books and manuscripts. Manuscripts, German. Criticism, interpretation, etc. Bible. Esther -- Criticism -- Illustrations. Estherrolle; Rouleau d'Esther. OCLC: 846549824. Fine Condition in original publisher's shipping box. A gorgeous, dramatic presentation.