Auction 94 Part 1 Important Items from the Gross Family Collection
Der Golem, folder of twenty-seven lithographs by Hugo Steiner-Prag, signed by the artist. [Leipzig?], 1916.
Twenty-seven proof copies (Probedruck) by the artist Hugo Steiner-Prag in preparation for printing Der Golem – a series of illustrations for the Golem of Prague legend (according to the version by Gustav Meyrink). Signed and dated by the artist in the margins (1916), with the inscription "Probedruck" (proof copy; some illustrations include titles handwritten by Steiner-Prag).
For two of the illustrations – the Golem's face and the Street of the Alchemists – the artist prepared two different prints: a dark version, as seen in Kurt Wolff's edition, and a lighter version, which was never ultimately used (the present folder includes both versions). An additional lithograph, depicting a figure standing under a stone arch in the night, was never published in Kurt Wolff's edition, and presumably only exists as a proof copy in the present folder.
All the lithographs are matted, and are placed in a fine folder with parchment spine. One lithograph is signed in print, not in handwriting (also marked "Probedruck").
The Der Golem series of lithographs was published by Kurt Wolff (Leipzig, 1916) in a portfolio edition of 300 copies – one of the most impressive and original attempts to depict the Golem of Prague. The present folder contains proof copies of all the illustrations included in the portfolio, apart from one (illustration of Hahnpassgasse street).
[27] lithographs printed on [26] plates (one plate printed on both sides), size varies slightly. Matted (50 cm). Good condition. Some stains and minor defects (primarily to passepartouts). Folder slightly worn and damaged. Illustrated bookplate inside folder.
Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, ALE.93.
Passover Haggadah, illustrated by Jacob Steinhardt. [Berlin: Erich Goeritz ("lithographs by H. Birkholz"), 1921].
Magnificent Haggadah, written in calligraphic letters designed by Franzisca Baruch, and accompanied by twenty woodcuts by Jacob Steinhardt – all signed by the artist. The colophon leaf is also signed by Steinhardt.
Rare copy from the original edition, printed in Berlin in 1921 in 218 copies. Copy 14 (of only 15 copies printed on high-quality Japanese paper).
Additional signature in pen on the endpaper, dated twenty-six years after the Haggadah was printed: "Jerusalem, III 4, 1947 Jacob Steinhardt".
The Stam type of the Steinhardt Haggadah: in 1918, Jacob Steinhardt approached Franzisca Baruch (1901-1989), graphic designer, and requested her assistance in designing a bibliophile edition of the Passover Haggadah. Baruch, then a seventeen-year-old student in the Berlin Art Academy and totally unacquainted with Hebrew characters, examined early manuscripts and printed books in the Berlin Royal Library (presently the State library) and gradually taught herself the Hebrew alphabet (her studies and drafts are documented in a sketch book, held today in the Israel Museum). She chose to print the Haggadah in a new type she herself designed, inspired by the Prague Haggadah – the first printed illustrated Haggadah. The font she designed for the Haggadah was so beautiful, that it was cast in lead and became a new Hebrew print font – the Stam type.
[24] leaves (printed on both sides). 39 cm. Good condition. Stains and minor creases. Fine parchment binding, with calligraphic inscription on front board – "Passover Haggadah" (name of owner in small script on the edge – "Joseph Tchornitzky").
Reference:
1. Otzar HaHaggadot: 2813.
2. Haggadah and history, by Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi. Philadelphia, Jewish Publication Society of America, 1975, plates 134-136.
Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, ALE.64.
The Haggadah, Haggadah by Arthur Szyk, printed on parchment; English translation and foreword by Cecil Roth. London: Beaconsfield Press, [ca. 1940]. Hebrew and English.
A bibliophile edition of superb aesthetic quality, designed in the spirit of medieval illuminated Hebrew manuscripts, and considered Arthur Szyk's magnum opus. Copy no. 70 of 240 (half were intended for sale in the United States, and half in England), signed on the colophon leaf by Arthur Szyk and Cecil (Bezalel) Roth.
Each page of the Haggadah is scribed in neat calligraphic script, with rich illustrations, ornaments and illuminated initial words. Fourteen full-page illustrations. Hebrew text and English translation on facing pages, occasionally with small ornament. Illustrated dedication to King George VI of England at the beginning of the book: "At the Feet of Your Most Gracious Majesty I humbly lay these works of my hands, shewing forth the Afflictions of my People Israel. Artur Szyk, illuminator of Poland" (the very first copy of the Haggadah was dedicated by Szyk and Cecil Roth to King George VI).
The Szyk Haggadah was created between 1932-1938 – 48 breathtakingly beautiful leaves, qualified by the London Times as "worthy to be placed among the most beautiful of books that the hand of man has produced". Syzk produced the Haggadah against the backdrop of the increasingly deteriorating situation of European Jewry, and it is interweaved with allusions to the persecution the Jews were suffering and the dangers they faced. Szyk portrayed the wicked son, for instance, as a German figure with a Hitler-like moustache, wearing clothes reminiscent of the S.S. Uniform. The battle against Amalek, as Cecil Roth writes in his foreword, is the central motif of the Haggadah illustrations. Due to its sharp messages, no European press was willing to print the Haggadah, and it was eventually printed in London, in the Beaconsfield Press (established specially for printing the Haggadah), during the war years.
Fine copy. Leather binding with gilt ornament after an illustration by Szyk. Placed in original, velvet-lined gilt decorated case, with leather spine and corners.
XXVI pages, [46] leaves. Vol: 28 cm. Case: approx. 33.5 cm. Good condition. Some stains and defects. Marginal stains to first and final leaves (blank). Several tiny holes to binding (repaired with paint). Minor wear to binding. Wear and stains to case.
There is a certain lack of clarity in regard to the Haggadah's year of publication: the year 1939 is printed on the page opposite the title, under Szyk's brief preface (French). In Otzar HaHaggadot, the Haggadah is dated 1940 (Otzar HaHaggadot, no. 3712). Yaari dates the Haggadah for 1941 (Yaari, no. 2285). Cecil Roth himself gives once 1939 (Printed Illustrated Haggadot, Areshet – III, 1961, p. 28) and once 1940 as year of printing (A Bibliographical Note on the Syzk Haggadah, by Cecil Roth, Studies in Bibliography and Booklore, vol. 9, no. 1, 1969, pp. 50).
Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, ALE.68.
The Haggadah for Passover, illustrated by Ben Shahn. Translation, introduction and notes by Cecil Roth. Paris-London: Trianon Press, 1966. Hebrew and English.
Passover Haggadah, accompanied by impressive illustrations by Ben Shahn, signed by the artist on the title page; limited, numbered edition of 292 copies. Copy no. III of XX copies issued with an additional folder of prints – two sets of the Haggadah illustrations on Arches Vergé paper, one of color plates and the other of uncolored plates; trial proof of the title page.
The Haggadah and folder are housed in an elegant, gilt decorated parchment case, with metal clasps.
Enclosed: original promotional pamphlet and notice sent to subscribers of the edition.
Haggadah: 135, XXIII, [1] pages (unsewn sheets, folded); folder of prints: [1] trial proof of title page spread, [12] color plates + [12] uncolored plates. Approx. 39 cm. Good condition. Stains and minor defects.
Exhibition: Chad Gadya. Tel Aviv Museum, 2005.
Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, ALE.65.